


The Ties That Bind

by level46sakimitama



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Action, Akechi Goro Lives, Akechi and Futaba are precious okay, Akechi's Wild Card, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And furthermore he kicks ass, Angst with a Happy Ending, BEHOLD THE POWER OF ANIME, Explicit Language, Fix-It, Futago Siblings, Gen, Half-Siblings, I'm very good at this, Redemption, Shido's palace, Spoilers, The Velvet Room (Persona Series), added that just now because I just now found out what it meant, it's Akechi what do you expect, let's see how many headcanons we can cram into one fic, let's see how many tags we can cram into one preface, oh no, some random street
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 22:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16819708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/level46sakimitama/pseuds/level46sakimitama
Summary: There are dark secrets lurking behind the veil of a deep ambition, secrets that had been hidden for years. But as three interconnected souls come face to face, their masks are torn off one by one, and their true selves are revealed.A man and a boy learn that there is much more going on in their hearts than they realized. For them, everything is about to change.(… I’m bad at summaries. ^^”)





	The Ties That Bind

  


The first thing he saw was darkness.

  


A peaceful stillness enveloped him, neither warm nor cold. He was lying on his back, feeling a stiff, flat support beneath him. It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t exactly uncomfortable either. He felt no real inclination to get up. But there was something nagging at the back of his mind, stirring him into action.

  


Groggily, Akechi forced his eyes open. They refused to open more than halfway, but all he could see from his position was the ceiling anyway. A ceiling that was an odd blue color…

  


_ Where am I…? _

  


Before Akechi could do more than wonder, he heard, from somewhere nearby, the soft sound of a piano, drifting in from out of the nothingness. Akechi briefly wondered who could be playing it, as the soothing melody washed over him with a strange familiarity, but it did not matter to him right now…

  


It was quiet, and he was tired…

  


Akechi felt his eyelids droop closed once more, intending to go back to sleep.

  


Then it all came back to him.

  


He recognized the sound of that piano.

  


His eyes flew open, darting around to take in his surroundings. He was lying in a small, cramped, dimly lit room, the floor, ceiling, and walls of which were all a deep blue hue. Looking down at himself, he could see that he was wearing a black and white striped prisoner’s outfit, and a tiny piece of cloth was draped over him like a blanket. What he was lying on was actually more of a cot: a single piece of hard wood fastened to the wall by chains. In the other corner of the room was a single toilet, the only other thing that could be considered furniture in the room.

  


It was a place he’d been to several times before, though never of his own volition, and the times he had found himself here had been, for the most part, uninteresting and dull.

  


Akechi tried to sit up, but felt something ominously like a snap right behind his eyes. His vision immediately filled with stars, and he laid back, groaning. Stiffness emanated from his entire body, the oblivious comfort he had felt a moment ago beginning to fade. What was wrong with him? What was he doing in this place? Why did he feel so awful…?

  


And then, suddenly, as if the snap had triggered it, a rush of memories flooded back into him.

  


Shido —

  


The Ark —

  


The Palace —

  


Phantom Thieves —

  


Joker —

  


Robin Hood —

  


Loki —

  


Cognition —

  


He bolted upright, throwing off the dirty towel that covered him and squeezing his eyes shut to ignore the burst of stars. He felt each memory come rushing in, tearing through his head like a bullet. Words washed over him, blurry and distorted, as if he was listening to them from underwater.

  


_ “Ak—hi-k—n!” _

  


_ “L—t’s m—ke a de—l… OK? You —n’t say no… wi— you?” _

  


_ “W—y at a t—me like this…!?” _

  


_ “C—nge Shido’s h—rt… in my st—d… End his c—mes…” _

  


_ “Pl—se…!” _

  


_ “…I promise.” _

  


Then the sound of a gunshot, and the unmistakable choking hold of death. 

  


It couldn’t be happening.

  


This had to be a dream.

  


He swung his legs over the side of the cot and stood up, then immediately regretted it. His head twinged more painfully than ever, and he felt nauseous, the room seeming to rock around him as if he were back inside his father’s Palace. Gasping for air, he stumbled like a drunken man to the toilet, knelt down in front of it, and immediately vomited. A burning sensation filled his mouth, lungs, and nose, and Akechi retched, trying to get a handle on himself as the world twisted around him.

  


Just then, a deep, ominous voice emanated from his right.

  


“I see you have come to your senses.”

  


Taking a deep breath, Akechi slowly turned and looked to his right. Before him was door made of solid iron bars, wrapped in thick chains, that kept him trapped him in this cell. Beyond that, however, was a larger circular room, one in which blue light filtered down from the ceiling, and in the center of which was a large, rectangular desk, ornately carved from wood and gleaming in the blue light. And sitting behind the desk, looking down at Akechi from the end of a nose longer than his Crow mask, was a thin, bald-headed man, dressed in a sharp black suit, folding his white gloved hands over the desk.

  


“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” Igor said, staring at his prisoner with giant, beady eyes and an insanely wide cheshire-cat grin. His voice was deep and sinister, enough to make the hairs on the back of one’s neck stand up, but Akechi wasn’t in the mood for any of his BS right now. He wanted answers.

  


“What am I doing here?” he demanded, shuffling closer to the door with as much dignity as he could muster. This prison outfit had always made him feel ridiculous. He clenched the bars of the door in his hands, causing the chains to rattle, and glared at the immovable prison master.

  


Igor grinned. “This is a place that exists between dream and reality—”

  


“—mind and matter, yes, yes, I know!” Akechi snarled, losing what little patience he had. Igor had repeated those meaningless words almost every time he came here. “What I want to know is why the hell am I  _ here _ ?”

  


Igor unfolded his hands, resting one atop the desk and leaning his chin against the other as he crossed his legs. “I have summoned you here,” he said, as if it should have been obvious.

  


Summoned?

  


Summoned!?

  


Was  _ that _ all he had to say!?

  


“What do you want, old man?” Akechi growled, seething with rage at the infuriatingly calm face that grinned back at him. “Come to gloat in my face now that I’ve lost your stupid game?”

  


That’s right. He had only been a pawn in a game. A game that had always been predetermined.

  


It no longer mattered. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He was dead.

  


He let go of the door, turning back to the darkness of his own cell. It suited him. “Just… leave me alone.”

  


Igor only chuckled, his deep tone reverberating throughout the room. Slowly, he began to tap his fingers on the desk.

  


“The game is not over.”

  


For a moment, Akechi could only blink. Then, the meaning of the words hit him.

  


“…What?” The room lurched beneath him again. He felt his heartbeat quicken as nausea slowly crept back into his stomach. Igor had to be messing with him. That was the only logical conclusion. He whirled around, turning back to the door once more, gripping the iron bars for stability. “What are you talking about? I died!”

  


“It is true that you have experienced what can be called a death…” Igor replied cryptically, drumming the desk with his fingers as he watched Akechi’s reaction keenly. “But your body is still very much alive in the real world.”

  


“But that’s impossible…” Akechi muttered, looking down from the prison master to his own hands. He remembered feeling the bullet bite into his heart, felt the piercing, indescribable pain as he was torn open and left bleeding on the cold floor of the ark. Slowly, he brought a hand under his striped shirt and felt his chest. It was intact. There were no bullet holes. He felt whole, complete. What the hell was going on?

  


“The Metaverse is a strange place,” Igor continued, methodically tapping away. “It is a reality based on the cognitions and the distortions of those who rule it. Yet it can also be changed by those who possess strong wills, those whose will of rebellion is stronger than the distortion. Regardless of the means, you are, beyond a doubt, still alive.”

  


Akechi’s eyes darkened. He wasn’t going to get a satisfying explanation at all, was he?   
  


So what? What did it matter to him? Even if he wasn’t dead, he should be. He’d lost. There was nothing he could do anymore.

  


He had always known it could turn out like this. From the moment it began, he understood the rules of the game. He had been ready to accept, even to welcome, the possibility of death if it meant that he could take a filthy piece of trash like his father to burn in hell with him. Revenge… it was what they both deserved.

  


What else did he have to live for, anyway?

  
  


Akechi withdrew his hand, looking back at the prison master through narrowed eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed Igor wasn’t finished.

  


“It has been quite some time since you last came to this place,” the prison master said, looking at Akechi curiously. “When you first awakened to your power, I brought you here and bade you make good use of it to grow stronger, to fuse new masks within your heart and grow closer to your own rehabilitation. However…” Igor paused, switching one leg over the other, and while his face remained unchanged, there was a slight edge of disappointment in his voice.

  


“You did not return here to fuse new Personas. You did not learn to make use of the bonds you forged with others in order to grow stronger. You have neglected your rehabilitation. In other words, your masks have become rigid and stale.” Igor tapped a finger on his desk sharply. “It should come as no surprise that they have started to wear down and are beginning to slip off.”

  


Rigid? Stale? Him? Akechi let out a mirthless laugh. His masks had been perfect. There had been no need for any more. He could always fool whoever he wanted with a bright facade, giving the whole world a relaxed and cheerful smile to fawn over while hiding his darkest side deep within him. He’d had Robin Hood for looks, and Loki for power. There was nothing else he needed.

  


He didn’t need…  _ anything _ else…

  


Igor continued, his voice pulling Akechi from his thoughts. “There are ties that bind you in reality… Ties that do not hold you down or restrain you, but instead offer you freedom and new power. You have already honed one to near perfection. It is the bond that you called upon when you awakened your second Persona, the Arcana of Justice that you share with the other Trickster. But there are more, many more, you have yet to discover. And you have yet to bring your original oath to fruition.”

  


Almost against his will, Akechi was beginning to feel morbidly curious the further the prison master went on. At any rate, he had a feeling he wasn't going to shut up until he’d said everything he wanted to, so it might be better to go along with it for now. “Oath...?” he repeated quietly.

  


In response, Igor chuckled, lifting his hand from the surface of the desk and waving it casually through the air once. Before Akechi’s eyes, a very familiar, bright red card appeared. His eyes darkened.

  


_ Oh. This again. _

  


The name written on it was one he’d rather not look at. But there was no mistaking the number, etched in shining white upon the deep red, directly below it.

  


ARCANA

Justice

RANK 9

  


Nine.

  


Nine?

  


Just nine? After he had poured his heart out, almost literally, coughing up blood on the floor of the ark, while the others watched him with naive  _ pity _ … After he seen his own pathetic self reflected in that cognitive copy, disgustingly and infuriatingly accurate… After he had come to terms with what he really wanted to do…

  


After they had made that promise…

  


After all that, it still hadn't been enough!?

  


Why. Why was everything he did never enough.

  


Nine.

  


The number was seared into the back of his eyes as distinctly as it always was. It wasn’t voluntary. He didn’t choose when he saw these odd cards in front of him, anytime he made even the smallest of interactions with…  _ him _ . Usually it only lasted moments. He barely caught glimpses of them before they vanished again, as quickly as they came. As such, had tried to thoroughly ignore them whenever they appeared.

  


But the card didn’t fade nearly as quickly this time.

  


Nine.

  


Akechi felt one of his eyes twitch. 

  


_ Well, that’s… great. That’s… just… great! That’s absolutely peachy! _

  


It was just so… laughable, wasn't it? He felt like laughing at the sheer, pathetic irony of it. Of course.  _ Of course. _ It was just  _ so _ fitting that he had died before even making it to the end of whatever these stupid cards measured It was so fitting that he had died with unfinished business.

  


It was so fitting that he had died without understanding anything.

  


He blinked several times, forcing the card out of his vision. When the bright red color faded away, he could see Igor watching him with the same, mildly interested expression.

  


Akechi let out another low growl, clutching the iron bars of the door, and whispered vehemently through the bars to the prison master. “I fail… to see… your point… old man.” He was exhausted, he had no idea what was going on, he had no idea what any of this meant, he had no idea what he was supposed to do, and Igor  _ still _ refused to give him a straight goddamned answer.

  


Nine.

  


Why should he care whether it was nine or zero?

  


Igor chuckled, rhythmically tapping on his desk once more. “If you wish to accept your fate and submit to the shackles thrown upon you by a distorted world, you can, of course, choose to die for certain…” Suddenly, the sound of tapping stopped. “But if you seek to rebel against destiny and lay claim to what it is you desire, then you must go back.”

  


Go back…?

  


Go back to that cold and unfeeling world, where he’d never been wanted, never been needed? Leave the peaceful tranquility of this place, where he didn’t need to think, didn’t need to feel, didn’t need to justify his existence to anyone? It wasn’t comfortable here… but it was comfortable enough. It felt much better than the outside world had ever been.

  


Here, though, the voices wouldn’t leave his head.

  


_ “Change Shido’s heart… in my stead… End his crimes…” _

  


_ “ _ … _ I promise.” _

  


Akechi clutched his forehead in his hand, angrily trying to force them out.

  


He had only said that because he had not other choice. He had had no way out. He had thrust the last remaining scraps of his hope onto…  _ him _ because he hadn’t been strong enough to see it through himself. Of course  _ he _ would be the one to do it. Of course  _ he _ would be the one to get all the credit for being a  _ hero _ while Akechi was left with…

  


Nine.

  


Incontrovertible, infuriating nine.

  


He had come so close to understanding. For a moment, as he heard that voice from behind him, he felt as though he knew. He had sacrificed himself to save that voice. If that hadn’t been enough, what would be?

  


_ Why… should I go back? _ he asked himself silently.  _ What reason do I have to go back? _

  


Igor’s voice sounded from a long way off, cutting clearly through his thoughts. “There is also the matter of one who cast you down to begin with… The false king whose heart is stained with pride. If you were to return, your life would surely be in grave danger from him… Yes, perhaps it would be better for you to run…” He gave another chuckle, deep and cold. His expression remained unchanged. “How very disappointing… It seems when I chose you to be a Trickster, I chose… poorly.”

  


Akechi’s lips curled as a quiet, unrestrainable growl emitted from his throat. Igor had, for once, reminded him of something important.

  


_ Shido. _

  


_ He _ was the one who had done this.

  


_ Danger… from him? As if. _

  


The mere  _ implication _ that he wasn’t more than enough of a match for his father was just plain insulting. So what if his Personas were… “stale,” whatever that meant? So what if he didn’t understand what Igor meant about bonds or rehabilitation? It didn’t matter. There was only one thing that mattered to him.

  


Thinking back, he could easily recall the moment he had encountered the Phantom Thieves in the Palace. They had been leaving. They must have already secured a route to the Treasure. They could attempt to steal his father’s heart at any time.

  


If he ever wanted to get revenge on his father, he had one chance left.

  


He was supposed to be dead. It would have been much easier if he was dead. But… he was not dead. He didn't know why. But he didn't care anymore. Like hell he was letting someone else steal  _ his _ kill. Like hell if he was going to let it end here.

  


He had never been one to leave a task half-finished. He had never been one to leave a cup of coffee half-full.

  


_ I could use a cup of coffee right about now, actually. _

  


Akechi looked down at his hands again, examining the pale skin briefly.

  


Alive. He was… alive.

  


He curled his fingers into a ball.

  


Might as well make the most of it.

  


Slowly, Akechi spoke through the bars of the door, not really caring whether Igor heard him, but determined to say something, if only to get the last word in. “Maybe you did choose poorly. Maybe you were wrong about me. Maybe I don’t quite have what it takes for this ‘rehabilitation…’ But maybe I… was wrong about me, too.” He lifted his head to glare at the prison master with unflinching resolve. “All I know is… I’m done letting myself be a puppet. I’m done taking orders from people like  _ you _ . All I have to do... is find my own path.”

  


Nine.

  


Akechi snorted.

  


No matter what it took, he wasn't going to let this haunt him anymore.

  


Apparently something within in his face satisfied Igor, because the prison master chuckled deeply once more, leaning back in his chair before he resumed tapping on his desk. “I see you have come to a resolution… “ he murmured. His voice echoed throughout the silent room. “How very… interesting.”

  


As Akechi stood completely still, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed, Igor drummed his fingers on the desk slowly, repeatedly, deliberately, watching him with keen interest.

  


“Remember this well: the game is not yet over. You will need to decide who it is you really are if you hope to stand against the ruin that awaits you and your world. You cannot complete your rehabilitation alone.”

  


Then, Akechi heard the distant sound of a prison alarm that always signified the end of Igor’s visits. Sleep would be inevitably descending upon him soon. He struggled to stay conscious, to force the old man to give him answers he wanted, but he could already feel his body becoming heavy…

  


It was quiet, and he was tired…

  


Akechi’s eyelids slowly lowered, pulling his vision into darkness. From somewhere far off, he could hear the quiet sound of a piano playing a soft melody before he drifted into unconsciousness.

  


  


* * *

  


  


A shining full moon, tinted red by clouds of smoke and ash in the air, gleamed down upon the massive hull of a cruise ship, drifting steadily through a vast red ocean. Atop the highest floor of the diet building that rested on the deck of the ship, a fierce battle had been raging.

  


The Shadow of Masayoshi Shido leapt to the ground, glaring at the form of a large, golden lion, made up of twisted, contorted bodies, that lay prone on the wooden floor behind him, twitching pitifully.

  


“Useless, ignorant masses!” he hissed, watching it fade into a shadowy flame and disappear. It had been of no use to him.

  


Narrowing his eyes, he turned back to face them, the thieves who had crept all the way to the top of his ship and begun bleating about how they we’re going to change his heart.

  


“It seems even thieves should not be taken lightly if they come in great enough numbers…” he growled, looking at each one with disgust.

  


“Once you’re losin’, you’re puttin’ all the blame on the masses, huh?” One of them, a blonde boy wearing a leather jacket, jeered at him in a mocking voice.

  


Shido ignored him, instead choosing to focus on the one dressed in a long black coat and red gloves, wearing a white mask through which he glared at Shido with an equally powerful loathing. Out of all the others, his gaze was the most fierce and determined, looking at Shido with an intensity that he had never felt directed at him before.

  


“So, you’re the one unifying them…” he said quietly.

  


“A touching reunion, isn’t it?” a blonde girl wearing a skin tight red suit demanded.

  


“The next time you crush a foe, I suggest you do it in a more certain manner,” a blue-haired boy said in an annoyingly condescending voice.

  


“Not that there’ll be a next time for you!” the smallest, a red-headed girl wearing goggles that seemed too large for her face, added.

  


What were they talking about? Shido looked harder at their leader’s face. There was something about it that seemed faintly familiar to him… Something familiar about the way his eyes smoldered with brash defiance…

  


Then something inside his head clicked.

  


“You…” Shido spoke to him. “You’re more than just a member of the Phantom Thieves, aren’t you?”

  


The boy let out a grunt of amusement, his lips curling into a smirk before he reached up and removed the white mask from his face. “Remember me?”

  


For a moment, Shido locked eyes with the boy, his full expression visible without his mask. It was an expression that held an unyielding and rebellious spirit. Where had he seen that expression before…?

  


“This ain’t the first time you failed to finish this guy off.” The voice of the blonde boy pulled him out of his thoughts.

  


“You took him to court and yet you don’t remember…?” A girl with dark brown hair, wearing a grey leather suit, shook her head in disgust. “You truly don’t care about the fate of others.”

  


Suddenly, a memory came back to Shido. He looked at the grey eyed boy, wondering aloud. “Wait… Could you be… the one from back then…!?”

  


_ It was dark, the only light coming from the dim headlights of a car parked beside the street of a rural town. Shido looked into the pale face of a young boy, whose eyes burned with defiance as he stood between Shido and some foolish woman, trying vainly to protect her from him. He remembered growling mockingly at the boy, seething as the insolent child barred his way and refused to let him win. He remembered lunging at the boy, losing his footing, and slipping to the ground, his head colliding with the side of a metal barricade.  _

  


_ “Damn brat… I’ll sue!” He gripped his head in pain as blood dripped between his eyes. _

  


_ He remembered relishing seeing the boy’s defiant glare turn into an expression of shock as he was dragged into a police car and taken away. Shido had sued the boy for assault, and he’d won, obviously. After that, he didn’t care what happened to the boy as long as he got a good, painful lesson not to mess with Masayoshi Shido. _

  


He glared at the boy, his anger growing. “That damn brat who showed up and stood against me when I was with that woman!” he spat, boiling at the satisfaction he saw on the boy’s face as Shido recognized him. Wordlessly, he slipped the mask back on.

  


Shido inhaled and let out a mirthless chuckle. “I see… So it truly is you… Haha… What an interesting turn of fate.” He unfolded his arms, looking at the annoying boy with disdain. “…But your efforts will be worthless in the end.”

  


“What!?” the loud blonde growled again.

  


“Small sacrifices are inescapable for those wishing to be powerful, competent leaders,” Shido said slowly. “How would you ever reach your destination if you stopped to count every ant you crushed on the road?”

  


“Are you saying that the people you killed deserved to die!?” A high-pitched voice came from the masked girl with light brown hair.

  


“He’s totally insane…” the blonde girl whispered next to her.

  


Shido grinned internally, a twisted and demonic satisfaction growing inside him every time these babbling children insulted him. They all acted however they pleased, putting forth their own self-assertions while refusing to even consider the meaning behind his words. So these were the kind of children that would one day grow up to be Japan’s future? It was unthinkable.  _ He _ was the one who would steer Japan into the future! These clueless and disobedient children deserved to be crushed by him!

  


“I wouldn’t expect the ignorant masses of this country to understand,” he replied coldly, smirking at them. “Thus, I will offer proof…”

  


Shido raised a hand to the shoulder of his regal outfit, grasping it and tearing it off. The cognitive cloth slipped off easily, vanishing from his body in a swish of red. He grinned, feeling his huge body, covered in muscles, bulging with power. Tight springs were coiled around his body, the weight of the people’s expectations, the weight of the need to succeed, giving him strength. He raised his fists in a battle stance, sneering in confidence at the children, who all looked with astonishment at his transformation.

  


“…By forcefully crushing the Phantom Thieves!”

  


He glared at the foolish children who called themselves Phantom Thieves, all glaring back at him with loathing written all over their masks. Who were they to think that they could come onto  _ his _ ship and do whatever they pleased? Who were they to preach about some naive  _ justice _ as they opposed  _ him _ , the chosen one, the people’s savior, the one who’d given up everything in order to achieve his dream? A sense of rage boiled within him, bubbling over and filling him with an unrepressed will to fight, to crush his opponents.

  


“I… shall win this game!” he declared.

  


Immediately he lunged forward, throwing out a fist at the boy in the white mask. The Phantom Thief rolled aside at the last moment, dodging the attack. Kneeling, the boy aimed a gun at Shido, firing twice at him. Shido hardly felt a thing as the bullets grazed his shoulder, no more troublesome than the sting of an insect.

  


From behind him, he heard a clatter of footsteps and a wild roar. He felt a blunt impact strike him in the small of his back, as painless as if he’d been struck by a twig. Grinning at his assailant’s naiveté, he thrust his elbow back and pounded them in the stomach. As they doubled over, a clatter sounding on the wooden floor as they dropped their weapon, Shido reached back and grasped their head between his arms, wrenching them off the ground and hurling them over his shoulder.

  


The body of the blonde-haired loudmouth flew through the air towards the other boy, whose eyes widened in surprise momentarily, throwing up his arms, before they both collapsed on the ground. Shido turned back to the rest of his prey, confident that those two would be out of his hair for a while.

  


He roamed his eyes over the group of children standing opposite him, his lips drawn back in a twisted grin as he took his time selecting his next target. Foolishly, they had chosen to spread out, meaning that he could focus on any one of them and pick them off one by one. 

  


Shido let out a cackling laugh, feeling a rush of complete power and control. The attacks from these pathetic kids were like the annoying buzz of insects, drowned out by the storm that was his will, _his_ authority, _his_ _power_.

  


Shido eyed the group of children, searching for one he’d noticed earlier. His eyes fell upon the small girl, dressed in a glowing green suit, a ring of holographic monitors and screens encircling her. She hadn’t taken part in the battle earlier, hanging back behind the rest while constantly running her fingers over those screens. If Shido had guessed correctly, she was something like their navigator, an information specialist who gave the others orders based on the data she gathered.

  


Shido smirked, readying himself for another attack. Not only was the girl defenseless, but having her out of the picture would weaken the others as well, leaving him in an even more certain position of victory.

  


In a decisive motion, Shido started forward, his eyes darting around to take in the flow of movement as each of the children reacted. The girl in the biker outfit darted straight towards him, jabbing at him with a metal fist. Shido blocked the blow with his arm, as he did with with numerous kicks and punches the girl followed with. Clearly, she was better than the rest of them at hand-to-hand combat, but it still made no difference before his brute strength. When she’d finished her assault, stepping back and looking at him with shocked and terrified eyes, Shido grinned, thrusting his own fist under the girl’s chin and knocking her to the floor.

  


The next attack came from the blonde girl, who stood glaring at him with hatred for the assault on her friend. With a splitting  _ crack _ , she lashed out a whip from several meters away, but Shido reached up and caught it in his hand, the tip coiling around his arm and barely scratching his skin. He tugged the long cord out of the girl’s pink gloves easily, causing her to lurch forward, having to place a hand on the ground to catch her balance. Shido tossed the weapon aside, far away from her, and advanced hurriedly toward his target.

  


These obstacles were becoming quite bothersome.

  


“Not another step, tyrant!” Shido caught a flicker of movement from his right as the brown-haired girl rushed at him, swinging a giant axe above her head. It was a slow and predictable attack, and Shido easily able to snatch the bladed weapon in the air, wrench it from her hands, and smack her in the side of the face with the flat edge. She stumbled back, staring at him incredulously and clutching her mouth as a trickle of blood ran from it. Her eyes suddenly blazed with a demented savageness from beneath her black mask.

  


“Oh my god, that is  _ not _ how you treat a lady, you  _ son of a bitch _ !” she screamed at him, reaching behind her and drawing out a massive grenade launcher seemingly out of nowhere. With a loud  _ bang _ , she fired a round at him, snarling with rage. However, with a deftness that surprised even himself, Shido caught the grenade in midair with his other hand, holding it up and crushing it in his fist. He watched the girl’s menacing snarl drain from her face, turning into one of dumbfounded fear.

  


Wait, were you normally supposed to be able to catch grenades with your bare fucking hands? Shido sniffed. He didn’t care. This was  _ his _ cognition, and he could do what he want.

  


_ (A/N: Don’t try this at home, kids.) _

  


Casting the axe aside, Shido brushed past the girl, who didn’t even struggle as he pushed her aside with one hand. He turned back to his target, now having closed more than half the distance between them.

  


In front of him, baring its teeth furiously, was the small form of a bipedal cat, its round head sitting atop a disproportionately small body. “You little — How  _ dare _ you treat Noir that way!” it spat, glaring at him with feral blue eyes. “Kick his ass, Zorro!” Yowling, it waved a paw in the air. A tall figure appeared behind it, draped in black, with shoulders so broad they could even give Shido’s a run for their money. It drew a long, thin rapier from the sheath on its hip and flourished it through the air. In front of it, what looked to be a giant boxing glove appeared, attached to a spring, which rocketed forward, directly at Shido. Shido, letting out a grunt of surprise, had no time to react to such a bizarre attack, taking the full force of the punch, which knocked him off his feet.

  


“Huh?” the cat said in surprise, blue eyes widening. “That actually worked?” His fanged mouth split into a grin, eyes sparkling. “Awesome! Now I’m gonna — ”

  


Shido never let the dumb animal finish its gloating. On the ground, he located a wooden plank near his arm that extended out to beneath the cat’s feet. He raised his fist and brought it smashing into the ground with full force. The wooden floor splintered beneath his arm, flipping upwards and sending the cat flying, yowling in surprise, over him.

  


Placing his hand on one of the broken boards for support, Shido pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off. He grinned to himself, reveling in the feeling of power that seemed to be increasing with every moment. Every one of these idiotic children’s attacks had been blunt and direct, easily foreseeable, easily avoidable, and hardly fitting for those who claimed that they could put an end to him, the strongest man in all of Japan.

  


He would tolerate these hindrances no longer.

  


_ Now, where was I…? Ah, yes. _

  


His lips curling into a satisfied smile, he turned back toward his target. The small, orange-haired girl.

  


There was no-one else between them now. Shido walked towards her, smirking as he saw her stiffen in surprise, her eyes widening beneath her mask. The glowing cluster of screens around her vanished as she attempted to turn and run. However, she only got a few steps before Shido caught up to her, grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her around, and closed a hand around her throat. She cried out in pain and fright as he lifted her off the ground, clawing desperately at his muscled arm with both of hers.

  


The fear she felt was obvious, even with her mask, and she struggled like a wild animal, kicking him violently in the shin. Her tiny leg bounced harmlessly off. In retaliation, Shido stamped his foot down on her toes. She gave a childish shriek in pain and stopped squirming, stiffening as a jolt of pain coursed through her.

  


Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the leader, the boy in the black coat, charging at him furiously, but Shido wasn’t going to let him get in the way this time.

  


“Don’t. Move,” he commanded, tightening his grip around the girl’s small neck, hearing her gasp and sputter. He took delight in seeing the Phantom Thief stop dead, glaring daggers at him from beneath his mask. It was easy to tell how much not being able to help was tormenting him. Shido also sensed the other children freeze around him, gazing in horror at their friend, who was now trapped, caught in his unyielding grasp. Smiling at their obedience, he continued. “Unless you want to see me wring her pretty little neck,  _ stay where you are _ .”

  


It  _ was _ vexing that he had to resort to such tactics on some foolish brats… but at the very least, it would serve as a necessary lesson for them. Sometimes one comes up against a force that they cannot overcome. When that time comes... one has no choice but to yield to it.

  


He would teach these children what they were fighting against.

  


He turned his eyes back to the girl, who had stopped struggling, but was still breathing hard and glaring at him, her cheeks puffed out in an angry frown. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she tried to spit in his face.

  


Shido chuckled to himself. It was cute, but futile nonetheless. “Now… let’s see what  _ you _ look like without that mask, shall we?” he whispered, lifting his other hand and laying it on her huge goggles. He saw her flinch, her defiant expression wavering into one of fear.

  


Slowly, he pulled the mask off her head, revealing her face. Deep, violet eyes peered back at him with the innocence of a child. Eyes he recognized.

  


It… It couldn’t be.

  


Shido’s hand loosened, releasing her and letting her fall to the ground, along with her mask. She collapsed to her knees, holding her hands over her throat and gasping for air. Once again, Shido saw the black-haired boy twitch as if he were going to rush to the girl’s side, but a sidelong glare stopped him in his tracks again.

  


He couldn’t know, however, that Shido was now experiencing a great deal of confusion and hesitancy as he looked at this girl.

  


“Who… are you…?” he asked her quietly.

  


“My name… is Futaba Sakura!” she yelled, her defiant expression returning to her as she looked up at him. “You killed my mother! Prepare to die!”

  


“Sakura…?” Shido repeated. It couldn’t  _ be _ …

  


“Not the whelp of that old fool, Sojiro Sakura?” he asked, narrowing his brow.

  


For a moment, no-one spoke.

  


“…How do you know Sojiro?”

  


It was not the girl who spoke, but a voice to his left. Shido turned his head to see the black-haired boy staring at him, his stance much less hardened, his face having shifted from a glower of fury to a confused stare. Shido looked from him to the girl, who was watching him with the same blank expression of shock. She looked, if possible, more frightened than she had been a moment ago. Frightened of what he might have to say, perhaps? 

  


The air surrounding Shido was thick; almost tangible. The children were all completely motionless. Only moments ago, they couldn’t have given a damn about what he had to say. They flatly denied any of the reasons he could have given them to cease their foolishness, yet now every one of them stood watching him in stunned silence, waiting for what he would say next.

  


But… did they really not  _ know _ ?

  


“He never told you about me?” Shido raised an eyebrow at the boy, who stared back blankly. “I’m hurt. After everything we had done for each other, everything we had gone through together, he would abandon me like that…?”

  


_ Abandoned. Alone. _

  


Shido looked at the girl once more, seeing the typical baffled expression of Sakura from within the girl’s eyes. How often had Sakura looked at him like that, looking bemused as Shido shared some revolutionary new idea or theory with him? How often had Shido raised his voice heatedly, passionately conveying his thoughts to the man who understood him better than anyone?

  


_ Doesn’t matter. Pointless. _

  


“He and I were like brothers. We shared everything. Our hopes, our dreams for the future… Our dream of changing society.” Shido snorted. Such a pathetic, foolish dream. As if two people could achieve such an impossible task on their own. As if anyone could really make a change in the world with nothing but naive idealism. And it had all been for naught, regardless.

  


_ All for nothing. Nothing left. _

  


“Then, two years ago, he vanished without a word. I’ve never heard from him since. I thought he had disappeared off the face of the earth…”

  


_ Disappear. Erased from cognition. _

  


“Imagine my surprise when Akechi told me he had found a certain coffee shop in Yongen-Jaya… some dingy hovel in the middle of nowhere, owned by a man whose name I never thought I’d hear again. Sojiro Sakura.”

  


Just saying the words took him back. Memories flitted to the surface, unbidden. Memories he’d thought he’d buried. Shido’s mind flickered rapidly through days, weeks, months, years, until it reached the recollection of a day more than fifteen years ago…

  


  


* * *

  


  


_ Something amazing had just happened. _

  


_ Shido hurried through the streets of Tokyo, weaving expertly through the masses, cutting through the crowd as a ship cut through water, ignoring their whispers as almost every head turned to watch him. It was natural that they should now stare. It was natural that they should now be speaking of him in hushed, awed tones. He felt an excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time, a burning need to find a certain person, to tell them of his achievement. It was only natural that he should be the first to know, given how they both felt about Shido’s goal. _

  


_ He found the person he was looking for at one of the cafés he frequented, sitting at one of the open-air tables outside and sipping from a steaming mug of coffee. As Shido approached him, the man looked up at him in surprise, setting down his cup. _

  


_ “Hey, Masa,” he chuckled, looking up at the agitated man questioningly. “What brings you here?” _

  


_ “I thought I’d find you here,” Shido said, pulling up a chair across from the man and looking at him in mock accusation. “How many cups does that make today?” _

  


_ “Six,” the man replied proudly, raising the drink and take another sip. “And I’m even behind my usual pace today, too.” He looked at Shido, grinning, as Shido shook his head silently at the crazy coffee addict. _

  


_ “But what’s up?” the man asked, setting down his precious drink and looking at Shido with concern. “You actually look excited, for once.” _

  


_ A fervent grin widened on Shido’s face as he looked back at the man seriously. “It happened,” he spoke low, leaning over the table to ensure he wouldn’t be overheard. _

  


_ “Huh? What has?” _

  


_ In response, Shido turned out the corner of his jacket, smugly showing off the pin fastened to the front it, running a finger over the small badge. _

  


_ “Y-You… You got in…?” the man asked in astonished awe. As well he should have been. They were one step closer to being able to realize their dream. _

  


_ Shido nodded, smirking in satisfaction at the stunned look on the man’s bearded face. For a moment, he did nothing but gape. Then the grey eyes relaxed, and his mouth curled into a proud grin. “Congrats,” he said warmly, patting the politician on the back. “This is incredible. You’re probably gonna be real busy now, though. You sure you have time to be talking to an old coot like me, mister hotshot legislator?” _

  


_ Shido gave the man a smile of his own, brightened by his friend’s enthusiasm. “Believe me, I took a great deal time from my busy schedule to come hunt you down,” he said, half joking, half serious. It had taken a while to find the one out of about fifteen different cafés he could think of that the man could be, after all. “But I felt you should be the first to know. After all, you’re the only reason I got this far… Besides,” he added, smirking, “wouldn’t you get lonely without me?” _

  


_ The other man narrowed his eyes at Shido, the corner of his mouth twitching. “You know me. If I ever get lonely, all I need to do is get myself a good cup of coffee,” he said, holding up the mug in his hand. “It’s more enjoyable than listening to your never-ending bragging, in any case.” _

  


_ “Ouch. That was harsh,” Shido said, feigning a wince, his eyelids lowered. “Besides, we both know that you’re a bigger bragart than I ever was.” _

  


_ The man scratched his chin in consideration for a moment. “Hm… Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed, grinning. _

  


_ “Aren’t I always right?” _

  


_ The two of them chuckled, enjoying the sense of familiarity as they traded blows. It had always been like this, the two of them doing the best to get under each other’s skin. They both knew the other like the back of their hands. _

  


_ It was then that the low buzz of a phone could be heard, and Shido received a brief, apologetic glance. “Sorry, let me take this,” the man said, reaching into his pocket and extracting the phone, flipping it open and holding it to his ear. “Hello?” _

  


_ Shido couldn’t hear the voice from the other end, but whoever it was made the other man break into another fond smile. “Oh, it’s you! What’s up?” _

  


_ The man listened to the speaker for a moment, nodding his head in apparent affirmation. “Mhm. Mhm. Yeah, I remember you— wait, what?” Suddenly, his eyes widened in the same baffled expression he’d worn when he saw Shido’s pin. “H-Hold on…!” he stuttered, looking stunned, as the person on the other end of the line chattered away. Eventually, however, his face relaxed into an amused smile. “Slow down, would you?” he chuckled. “I can hardly keep up with everything you’re telling me.” _

  


_ He listened to the voice for another moment before his mouth opened in surprise again. _

  


_ “Really? You want me to come over right now?” he asked, glancing down at his unfinished cup of coffee. “B-But it’s my day off…” He winced as he listened to the voice again. “Okay, okay! Sheesh…” The man trailed off, running a hand through his messy black hair. “I’ll be right there, okay? No, I won’t get sidetracked this time! Yes! Yes. Okay. Gonna hang up now. Bye.” _

  


_ “You got a date?” Shido asked slyly as the other man pocketed his phone. _

  


_ “Something like that…” the man muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He cast Shido a look from the corner of his eye. “Guess today’s a good day all around, huh?” _

  


_ Shido grinned. “She is making progress, then, I take it?” _

  


_ “You bet she is!” the man responded proudly, staring into the distance with a fond smile on his face. After a moment, though, he sighed, giving his coffee another forlorn glance, then looked back at Shido apologetically. “Sorry, I’m gonna have to take off. You know what she’d do to me if I kept her waiting… I’ll see you later, though, right?” _

  


_ “Of course.” Shido smiled as the man rose from his seat, coffee still in hand. “You will tell her that I’m looking forward to seeing the results of all her hard work, won’t you?” he added. _

  


_ “Yeah…” the other man replied absentmindedly, staring into space again. “Yeah, sure.” As he made his way around the table, he paused as he passed by Shido, briefly placing a hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy, alright, Masa?” _

  


_ And with that, he left, sauntering his way through a crowd, far less deftly than Shido had done, leaving Shido gazing at the back of the man’s white jacket. _

  


_ Sojiro Sakura. _

  


_ His confidant. _

  
  


* * *

  


  


It only took a moment. Just a single moment for the memories of the past to come back, filling Shido with… hesitation. Regret. Things he didn’t need..

  


Fifteen years ago… that had been the last time they were really able to speak with each other like that. The last time they had really been able to see eye to eye. What happened after that was…

  


A game.

  


They had had a “game.”

  


A prize they both sought to claim.

  


If only he could remember what it was…

  


He remembered another day had come, fifteen years ago, the day he’d stopped smiling forever. The day Sakura had betrayed him… the day he’d betrayed Sakura. Which was it? For a moment, Shido couldn’t be sure. Memories flitted past him one by one, like the skyscrapers that could be seen around his Palace, looming into view and then vanishing beneath the dark waves. Memories that he’d sworn he’d destroy.

  


There was no longer any point. Whatever had happened, had happened. Whatever they’d been before… he and Sakura were enemies now, of that he was sure.

  


The past was the past. The only way a ship could move, was forward.

  


So Shido chose not to dwell on it, and turned his attention back to the girl still kneeling on the floor before him.

  


There was something else. Something about this girl that he instinctively recognized. The stubborn pride of Sakura was evident in her defiant glare, but the shadow of someone else lingered in her violet eyes…

  


Sakura’s eyes had been dark and grey. The girl couldn’t have gotten her eyes from him. If anything, they must have come from her mother.

  


Eyes… He remembered the eyes of a dark-haired woman, looking at him with desire.

  


_ Desire. Give into temptation. _

  


He and Sakura had been partners, closer than brothers, always there to encourage each other in their endeavors, personal or otherwise. They had shared everything. But there was one thing they couldn’t share. One thing Shido had always sworn he would claim first. In their little game, he had won. He remembered it now. But that could only mean…

  


“Tell me…” he whispered, looking into those violet eyes with an unwanted intensity growing in his chest. He looked at her as she looked at him, thoughts of all else erased from their minds, both trembling with a burning need to  _ know _ . “You had mentioned that I killed your mother. Was this mother of yours… a woman named Wakaba Isshiki?”

  


The girl still did not respond. But the flicker of recognition that flashed in her eyes was all the confirmation Shido needed.

  


“Ah… Ah.”

  


Then he realized. All of it made sense to him now. He let out an amused chuckle. For the first time that night, his face split into a wide, genuine grin.

  


He reached out a hand and placed it on top of the still girl’s head.

  


“You are my daughter.”

  


…

  


…

  


…

  


The silence that followed his words was absolute. The girl stared, and stared, and stared at Shido with those wide eyes, emotions flickering rapidly through them.

  


Those violet eyes… they were the same as  _ hers _ had been. Sharp and calculating, processing the world around them as if they were dissecting streams of data. But now that the mask was off, the emotions flowed freely, rushing past her and leaving her unable to comprehend.

  


“I don’t need to elaborate, do I?” Shido asked softly, staring her straight in the eyes. “I had known her for years. I was her benefactor, the one she owed her position to. Wakaba Isshiki was an intellectual, competent woman, the kind rarely found in our society these days. As such…” he paused, the intense feeling twisting in his chest. “She was fitting for one such as me. Me, and me alone.”

  


The color was draining from the girl’s face, turning her white as chalk as she slowly shook her head. He couldn’t even tell if she was listening to him anymore, but he continued on, feeling as though a knife were being extracted from him as he spoke of these poisonous memories.

  


“If there is something I want, I get it,” he whispered, quiet enough to ensure that the girl was the only one who heard him. “And if I don’t want it anymore, I simply dispose of it.” Shido shook his head. “It’s truly a shame what happened to her. If only she had just given everything over to me, she wouldn’t have had to die…”

  


And suddenly, it was as if something broke in the girl’s eyes.

  


She started shaking. Shaking so hard that it sent tremors through his body as well. He released her head, stepping back a pace. She continued to tremble, staring up at Shido with wild, terrified eyes. She didn’t look as if she were capable of standing, let alone making a break for it, and the other children seemed hesitant to make any moves while Shido remained so close to her.

  


Shido grinned to himself, feeling a new wave of power. This situation had been entirely unexpected, but it was one he could easily turn to his advantage. And from what he could gather, this girl had been the one to assist the Phantom Thieves in retaliating against his staged Medjed threat, single-handedly posting their logo brashly right over the front page of Medjed’s website and publicizing the illicit details of the man who’d been forced to play the role of scapegoat. She was clearly a force to be reckoned with. And now that Akechi had seemingly vanished without a trace, Shido was in need of a new… assistant.

  


“I could make could use of you,” he said, suddenly feeling a strange sensation of fondness as he looked into the girl’s violet eyes. “You seem quite competent to have snuck into my heart and wriggled all the way up here. Join me, and I’ll let these precious Phantom Thieves of yours live. I could make you great, a brilliant young mind working nobly for the sake of society, instead some pathetic girl sitting alone in her room, wrapped in some ridiculous fantasy!”

  


Silence once again greeted his words. The girl stared up at him, her expression unchanged, the sound of her breathing the only thing Shido could hear.

  


The silence in the air was pregnant. All thoughts of the battle had faded away. The children all stared at him, transfixed, holding their breath and hanging on his every word. Shido swallowed, realizing that he had been holding his own, as well. If he was to be perfectly honest, he was in need of a moment of breathing time. He knew that he would win eventually, but these children were all surprisingly tenacious, and after being hit repeatedly with clubs, whips, and what he could only describe as giant boxing gloves appearing out of nowhere, Shido was beginning to feel the damage wearing down on him.

  


Growling briefly, he focused back on the girl, who still sat on her knees, as still as a statue, as if she no longer knew how to breathe.

  


A minute passed, and no answer. Two minutes, and still nothing. The girl only looked at him with the same scared expression, wrapping her arms around herself and curling into a ball. She began to pant, her breathing increasing and decreasing irregularly. Shido smiled down at her, waiting patiently. He had all the time in the world, after all. She was hurt, frightened, and confused. It was only to be expected. But Shido could tell that she, like her mother, was logic-driven and rational. She would agree to him in the end.

  


But as time continued on, and the girl continued to shudder endlessly, Shido growled, wondering if he had gone too far, and managed to give this poor, pathetic girl a short circuit. She had seemed strong at first, defiant of him while she stood by her friends, and capable and collected in battle. But now she was just a little girl. Just a scared little girl facing a difficult and harsh reality she didn’t want to accept. She didn’t have the heart to defy. She didn’t have the heart to obey. Had her heart been torn completely in half?

  


Shido frowned.

  


She was as weak as her mother.

  


His fist tightened.

  


Perhaps it would be better to just end this now.

  


Before he could move, however, a different voice cut through the silence.

  


“Now, Robin!”

  


Shido jerked his head to the left, glaring furiously around for the source of the interruption  — just as a giant arrow of white energy came hurtling from the sky toward him.

  


Shido’s eyes barely had time to widen in shock as the blast caught him in his chest, throwing him backward, away from the girl. He yelled out as a flash of white light momentarily blinded him, pain erupting in his chest. He flew several meters through the air before he crashed heavily onto the wooden floor, flat on his back, staring at the sky. Swearing, he lifted his head up and glared once more in the direction of the attack.

  


Perched atop one of the high walls of the diet building was a young boy, silhouetted against the dark sky. Behind him, a glowing figure floated, clad in a brilliant white suit with a blue cape billowing behind it, holding a huge, golden bow, which was aimed directly at Shido.

  


Slowly, the boy rose, standing on the edge of the wall, looking down on the scene with an unreadable expression as every eye turned to look at him. Then he jumped, flipping in midair and hurtling toward the wooden platform. With a practiced ease he landed, rolling forward and getting to his feet immediately.

  


Then he spoke, with all the air of a gentleman thief.

  


“Leave that girl alone.”

  


Goro Akechi stood staring at Shido with murderous eyes.

  


  


* * *

  


  


Akechi walked forward, completely at ease, the eyes of everyone on the platform fixed upon him.  


  


Well, almost all of them. 

  


Joker, being the chivalrous little hero he was, had immediately darted over to Oracle as soon as Akechi had blasted his father away from her. Joker knelt beside the girl, who was still kneeling, frozen in place, on the floor. Probably from shock. Admittedly, Akechi felt a bit shocked at what he’d heard his father say, too… but he could worry about that later. He was focused on what he’d come here to do. He continued forward, the sharp tap of his boots cutting through the silence as he walked across the wooden floor.

  


Akechi stared straight ahead, glaring with uncontainable rage at the man who’d had the audacity to try and use him, the man who’d forced him to ruin countless lives, treating him like a puppet only to further his own selfish ambition. And now he dared to think he could take another innocent person under his cruel wing, twisting and warping them until they were nothing but a horrific imitation of their past self? It was despicable. Akechi wouldn’t let it happen. When he spoke, however, his voice was calm and controlled, as it always was.

  


“How I’ve longed for this day, father… the day when all of your crimes would come back to bite you in the ass!”

  


Shido, for a moment, opened his mouth wordlessly, unable to speak. Akechi smirked. He’d finally learned how to shut up, eh?

  


He grinned smugly at the motionless man for a few more moments before he raised a gloved hand and examined it.

  


“Hm? That’s odd…” he murmured curiously, curling his fingers. He was still dressed in a brown blazer and black dress pants, far from the outfit that embodied his sense of justice. “You don’t see me as a threat anymore?”

  


“You… You’re supposed to be dead!” Shido spat.

  


Akechi threw back his head let out a mirthless laugh. The look of shock and fury on his father’s face was absolutely priceless.

  


“The next time you want to kill me…” Akechi growled back at him, grinning from ear to ear. “Do it yourself!”

  


As his father looked at him with furious incredulity, a coiled tangle of shadows spiraled around Akechi, covering his body. When the shadows faded, he now wore a bright white suit to match his Persona from before, complete with golden tassels on his shoulders and a small, pointed cape around his neck.

  


“That’s better…” he said quietly.

  


_ “This is my mental image of someone who sticks to their justice.” _ Briefly, he recalled his words to the others regarding his appearance. They had looked at him skeptically back then, Skull barely being able to contain a snicker. But now, as Akechi’s gaze drifted over them, all of them wore similar expressions of awestruck fear. Skull, however, also had a wide, excited grin on his face, his eyes darting rapidly from Akechi, to Shido, then back again. The implication couldn’t have been more obvious. He expected Akechi to kick Shido’s ass, didn’t he?

  


Well… Akechi chuckled quietly, drawing a hand up to the beak-like mask on his face and lowering his head. Who was he to disappoint him?

  


“The time has come, father. This time, I’m going to decide how to use my power. I’m going to use it to do something right for a change.”

  


“So you’re going to turn your back on me and join your precious  _ friends _ , are you?” Shido snorted, and Akechi didn’t need to see him to picture the derogatory look on his face, the same one he had given Akechi so many times before. “What’s the matter? Not even a month ago, you had sworn to me that you were going to hunt down these pathetic children and kill them one by one. Yet now you’re going to drop everything and join them!?”

  


Akechi let out an audible chuckle. What a pitiful misunderstanding. That had been the furthest thing from his mind. He had no intention of going crawling to  _ “his precious friends” _ now. The stupid change of heart had been the only thing on his mind for  _ two years _ before they had gotten in the way. He wasn’t going to let them interfere again. He didn’t  _ need _ them, no matter what they thought otherwise!

  


“I never said anything about anyone else here. No, father, this is for me. And  _ my _ justice.” Akechi let his voice drift not just to Shido, but to the Phantom Thieves as well. Hopefully that would be enough to stop them from getting some naive idea that he wanted to work together. He didn’t have time to deal with that crap.

  


“Justice?” Though he still stared resolutely at the wooden floor, Akechi could imagine the look of incredulity and twisted amusement on his father’s face. “Do you honestly still believe in that naive, childish idealism, Akechi?” he demanded, taking a step forward. “You speak of  _ justice _ to  _ me _ ? Where was justice when the public turned on you, merely for expressing a difference of opinion? Where was justice when that same public denounced the Phantom Thieves, perfectly willing to let them take the fall for your actions? Where was  _ justice _ while you were running around in some ridiculous mask, doing whatever you wanted with people’s hearts!?”

  


Shido was breathing heavily, his voice becoming more savage and forceful with every word. “The ones with power are the ones who make the rules in this world, Akechi! All worthless brats like you need to do is shut your mouths and follow them!”

  


Akechi growled softly. “I’m not… worthless…” he breathed. But Shido continued, seeming to neither hear nor care that he had spoke.

  


“This world is controlled by the whims of the public! The sooner you and these miserable children”  — he gestured forcefully towards the others.  — “learn that, the better! It’s easy enough to say that you alone can decide who you are, what you will do… but you’ll still be shackled by the whims of an ignorant and self-serving public! If you don’t have the strength to rise up and take power for yourself, you’ll be left drowning among them all! It doesn’t matter what you think, it doesn’t matter what you believe! As long as you’re successful, people will respect you! If you aren’t…” Shido paused, and inhaled sharply.

  


“If you aren’t… then they will  _ always _ think of you as some pathetic puppet to be used. You and I… We know this better than anyone.”

  


At this, Akechi froze, lifting his head up to look at his father once more. For the first time, Akechi could hear something in his voice other than cold disdain or arrogance.

  


Shido’s eyes were cold and hard, full of rage, full of malice. But… it had never occurred to Akechi that… they might not have always been. He had never really considered what his father had gone through before. He had never wondered or cared what had caused his distorted desires to grow as immense as the massive ark that rocked beneath their feet, cutting through a vast and empty ocean of  _ failures _ . Now, however, as he stood face to face with him… he felt like he could see something he hadn’t before. For the first time, Akechi felt as if he understood his father in some way.

  


Society… A distorted society… A society that failed to think for itself…

  


Was…  _ that _ what he was trying to change?

  


Wasn’t that what…  _ they _ were trying to change?

  


The grin Akechi had worn from the moment of his entrance had long since faded.

  


_ This… This isn’t funny anymore. _

  


He was done toying with his adversary. It was time to finish this.

  


A way out… A way to change society… He would find one himself. But first, he would settle for changing the pathetic heart of the man before him.

  


“I won’t be a puppet any longer,” he spoke calmly, feeling a thrill of anticipation as he looked directly into his father’s yellow eyes. “I won’t let what others think hold me back any longer! I’m going to take back my future… right now!”

  


And then, as he glared in defiance at the man he was determined to bring down, a deep, menacing voice echoed clearly in his mind.

  


_ Have you finally come to your senses? _

  


_ Good… I was getting bored of waiting. _

  


Akechi gasped as he felt a heavy pulse run through him, pounding in his head like a heartbeat. The nauseous feeling he’d had upon awakening in the Velvet Room returned, causing him to sway. He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his balance, determined not to show any sign of weakness as sickening pain overtook him.

  


_ Why do you deny your pain? Why do you dance fickly between light and shadow like an actor upon a stage? You know who it is that has wronged you. You know who are your allies and who are your enemies. Let your hatred burn forth, uninhibited! _

  


As the voice in his head roared, the pain increased tenfold, and Akechi couldn’t hold up any longer. He groaned in pain, clutching his head in his hands and the world swirled around him. Writhing and twisting, feeling his body jerk uncontrollably as if being pulled by string, he screamed in pure agony.

  


_ Let us forge a new contract, you and I. The world is filled with distortion, and we alone have the power to stand up against it. There is no longer any need to shackle ourselves to dignity or honor. If our past is a ship that’s bound to a rotting dock and destined to sink, we might as well destroy it once. Let us cast aside this paper-thin mask and tear through the veil of deceit ourselves! _

  


The pulse ran through him again, filling every part of Akechi’s body with a tingling sensation. Pain and power were now one, mixing, melding, and melting together in his insides.

  


Akechi panted, grinning twistedly, and called out to the voice behind his mask.

  


“Give me… your power!”

  


_ Very well. I have heeded your resolve. _

  


_ Vow to me. I am thou… _

  


“Thou art I…”

  


_ Call upon my name, and release thy rage! _

  


Akechi ripped off his mask eagerly, screaming the name of his Persona to the heavens.

  


_ “LOKI!” _

  


In a burst of blue flame, the Persona appeared behind him, its body covered in jagged black and white stripes, clutching a long blade that smoldered with a red-hot intensity. Its many braided tendrils of hair whipped through the air around it as it hovered, bristling with power, above the boy who stood wearing a wild, twisted grin.

  


Akechi’s attire had also changed form, the pretentious, almost putridly white garb morphing into something a bit more… devilish. A sleek, purple and black striped suit, flared at the cuffs and ankles, with steel-plated boots and gauntlets. A ragged black scarf billowed from around his neck like smoke, topped with a full metal helmet and beak-like visor. 

  


Akechi looked down at his hands, flexing the armored fingers with satisfaction.

  


Now this…  _ this _ was an embodiment of justice.

  


As he felt his true, dark nature return to him, he reached up and flicked the visor down over his eyes, completing the transformation.

  


All around him, he could feel the eyes of the Phantom Thieves burning into him. They had remained silent for a while now, listening to Shido drone on and on, and had not uttered a word during the exchange between father and son. Now they all stared at  _ him _ , looking at  _ him _ with wide-eyed amazement, awed into stunned silence by  _ his _ power.

  


_ My… power! _

  


He saw his father watching him, anger still etched on his face, but there was something else in his yellow eyes now.

  


Fear.

  


Akechi smirked, thrusting his hand toward the man he wished to see writhe in pain with every fiber of his being.

  


“Execute him, Loki!”

  


Loki obeyed, gripping his searing blade tightly and flying at the muscular man, towering over him.

  


He was so  _ fucked. _

  


Loki brought the burning sword slashing down, slicing a path of raw, fiery destruction straight across Shido’s chest. The springs and braces wrapped around him splintered off and clattered to the ground, leaving his upper body bare and exposed. Akechi relished in the scream of pain that erupted from his father, cackling with uncontrollable laughter.

  


“I see now…” he murmured to himself as his father fell to one knee and Loki returned to him. “In order to seize the future, one need not wait for an opportunity. You have to create one yourself!”

  


Akechi lifted a hand to his visor, feeling a rush of power as Loki’s vicious presence radiated from behind him. Screw what Igor had said about his Personas becoming stale. Loki was all he needed in battle. He had sworn not to use his psychotic breakdown-inducing ability in this battle, but there were so many more ways he could inflict pain. In his mind’s eye, he flicked through a list of skills before settling on one.

  


_ Teach this miserable piece of scum how it feels to die… Loki! _

  


“Eigaon!” he shouted, calling out the striped Persona once more. Loki spun his blade and thrust it into the air, a stream of what could only be called pure darkness firing from the tip straight at Shido. This time, however, the man dodged to one side. His restraints having been broken, he moved with an almost inhuman speed. He glared straight at Akechi, his huge knuckles whitening with fury. Before Akechi could summon the strength for another skill, Shido had charged toward him, raising his fist. In only a second, he had crossed the distance between them.

  


Stars burst in front of Akechi’s eyes as a huge weight collided with the side of his head. The force of the impact was so strong that he felt himself knocked off his feet, collapsing onto the wooden floor just as Shido had done before.

  


Shido slowly walked towards him, glaring down with cruel delight. He curled his hand into a fist once more, pulling it back to strike.

  


“You’re  _ dead _ , boy!”

  


Akechi tried to move, but doing so made the stars in his eyes pop, and fuzzy darkness encroached upon the edge of his vision. Suddenly his power was gone, and he felt a cold fear running through his body, freezing him to the spot. He could hear Loki hissing at him in outraged protest, but it was no use. His legs were locked up, chained helplessly to the ground.

  


_ Shit…! _

  


Akechi squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow to fall, but it never did. Shido thrust his fist toward him once more, but before it even got close to him, it stopped in midair, as if it had collided with some invisible barrier. 

  


“What!?” Shido’s eyes widened as a web of green light appeared around Akechi, protecting him. Then, with the force of an explosion, the light expanded, knocking Shido backward for the second time that night.

  


“Back off!”

  


Equally surprised, Akechi whipped his head to the side and saw the glowing form of Oracle, holding her hands out to a translucent monitor in front of her as her red hair whipped around behind her. A giant technicolor ball floated above her, grinning down at Akechi. Her Persona.

  


The navigator was on her feet once more, trembling slightly, but looking every bit as determined and angry as she had been before. She had her goggles back on, glaring at Akechi with fierce, beady red eyes. He’d seen this transformation of hers several times before, turning from a small, quiet girl one moment into a vehement and merciless warrior the next. It was honestly quite terrifying. This version of her, which, for some reason, he had subconsciously assigned the name Pharaoh, was far,  _ far _ more intimidating than his father was.

  


“You  _ idiot _ !” she shouted at him, stamping her foot. “If you’re in trouble, call for backup! Don’t try to do everything on your own!”

  


Quickly, Akechi glanced back at Shido, who had now been engaged by the other members of the Phantom Thieves, his attention taken off Akechi. Having regained control of his legs, Akechi got to his feet, wincing, and dashed over to where the short navigator stood beside Joker.

  


Without a word, Joker placed a hand on his mask, the form of a woman with bright pink hair and wearing a long, flowing dress appearing behind him. A soft green light filtered into the edges of Akechi’s vision momentarily, and he felt the pain in his left temple recede somewhat.

  


When Akechi looked at Joker again, he saw him wearing that smug grin he always had, the one he wore whenever he was pleased. Akechi could tell he was amused by this ironic turn of events.

  


He sniffed. He just hoped Joker didn’t expect him to thank him.

  


“This is a battle,” he said brusquely to the dark-haired thief. Better get this out of the way quickly, before Joker started to get any more terrible ideas. "Whatever you want to say, save it for later. I didn’t come here to fight with you. We aren’t allies."

  


“Allies?” Joker chuckled, the amused look remaining on his face. “I suppose… We never really have been. But still… as long as we both want the same thing, I think we can share the spotlight, don’t you?”

  


Akechi frowned, his surroundings pushed to the back of his mind as tried to piece together the boy in front of him.

  


From the very moment they met, Akira Kurusu had intrigued him. Everything about him seemed a complex mystery. The way he always kept a calm, relaxed face in any situation… The way he always took the time to speak with Akechi, holding long and meaningful conversations with him about all manner of things: the Phantom Thieves, the intricacies of a good cup of coffee, or some new book Akechi had brought to Leblanc.

  


Every time he spoke with Akira, Akechi felt a confusing mixture of warm friendliness and unshakeable mystery. He could never tell if he wanted to be friends, or if he, like Akechi himself, had always worn a mask. And when switching between masks had always been  _ his _ specialty, Akechi had always wondered what made Akira better, what made him so capable of  _ connecting _ with people like this, no matter who they were… or what they had done.

  


_ What makes you  _ care _ so much… about people like me…? _

  


If he had still been the same Akechi as he had been when he first met Akira, he never would’ve dreamed of  _ sharing the spotlight _ with anyone, let alone this smug, naive idiot he could never get a good read off of. The recognition of the public and the adoration of his fans had been his alone. The satisfaction of knowing he would one day have his revenge on the despicable man who dared call himself his father was more than enough for him. But all that had nothing to do with him right now. It had nothing to do with the boy who stood next to him, looking at him with a fierce, burning pride.

  


“…Think what you want. I… will correct you later. ” Akechi replied as nonchalantly as he could, turning his gaze back to the battle. The other members of the Phantom Thieves were now all attacking Shido at once, darting and weaving between one another like the steps of a well-rehearsed dance as Shido struggled helplessly, unable to catch any of them.

  


“Zorro, show your might!” the tiny form of Mona cried out, performing a small backflip. The top-heavy black figure appeared once more behind him, flourishing its rapier in a Z, and another one of those boxing-glove-things appeared in the air in front of it. Shido snarled, pulling to one side at the last second as its spring smashed the glove into the ground past where he’d been standing. But that didn’t mean he got off scot free. The glove knocked into one of the planks of wood Shido had smashed to pieces earlier, flipping it around and smacking Shido in the side of the face. He stumbled to the side, groaning.

  


Akechi almost winced, snickering. Ooh, karma had to hurt.

  


“Whip ’im, Seiten Taisei!” another voice roared to Shido’s right, and he turned just in time to see what appeared to be a huge monkey wearing a wrestler’s outfit, riding on a grinning cloud and spinning a massive iron pole. “Eat shit, scumbag!” its summoner bellowed as the Persona brought the pole swinging down. A huge, crackling bolt of lightning appeared from the sky, crashing down on Shido. He froze, grunting in shock as the electricity paralyzed him. Skull grinned as he admired his handiwork, punching a fist into his palm. “Now, Panther!”

  


“Dance, Hecate!” The girl dressed in the violently red suit struck a pose as she pulled off her mask. A woman appeared behind Panther, well, Akechi called it that for the sake of simplicity. He really couldn’t tell what it was, with a giant pair of vividly colored eyes rising like antlers out of the figure’s body, which was itself clad in a spiky metal dress and red cape, gripping a pair of chains attached to two floating, snapping, and growling dogs’ heads. The dog heads shot forward, coiling their chains around Shido and squeezing him tightly. Growling, Shido flexed his huge muscles, throwing the chains off his body easily. They splintered off him and vanished into nothingness as the weights he’d worn before had. But just as he started towards the girl, a blue-haired boy jumped in front of her, gripping his mask in one hand and katana in the other.

  


“Crush him, Kamu Susano-o!” Fox cried in a deep voice, whipping off his mask. A muscular blue figure appeared above him, dressed as a samurai and wielding a huge, jagged sword. Its red eyes glinted as it swung the blade down on Shido from above. Grunting in dismissal, Shido threw his arms up and caught the blade between his palms just before it sliced him in half. Using sheer strength, he wrenched the blade to the side, forcing its wielder to come crashing to the ground. As Fox jumped clear of the impact, Akechi could almost swear he heard him mutter “Unbelievable…!”

  


Shido stood upright, snarling in frustration as he attempted to catch his breath, but then another flash of movement caught his attention.

  


“Anat, come!” A sleek metallic figure appeared above Queen, its mechanoid body resembling something out of an anime. Akechi heard Oracle let out a small, excited squeal behind him before the mech dived down, swinging at Shido with its bladed arms.

  


Just as he’d done with the sword, Shido caught the arm with one hand. As Anat’s other arm came at him, Shido caught that one too, holding both tightly in his powerful grip. Persona and human stood face to face with each other, arms tensed, feet gripping the floor, pushing against each other like the opponents of a sumo match. Somehow, miraculously, Shido was beginning to push forward, forcing Anat’s huge body backwards ever so slowly. But just as the Persona’s metal feet began to skid on the wooden floor, another voice rang out.

  


“Astarte, descend!” Distracted, Shido’s eyes darted to the side momentarily  — and that was all the opportunity Anat needed. The Persona put its full weight onto the man, pushing him back and forcing him off his feet entirely. It opened its metal claws, grabbing Shido’s arms and pinning them firmly to the ground.

  


Meanwhile, the one who had spoke, a brown-haired girl wearing a black vest and feathered hat, raised one hand to the hat’s brim, tipping it over her black mask. A giant Persona appeared behind her, the upper half of a woman protruding from a disturbingly vibrant pink skull.

  


“Let’s see you avoid this… lowlife!” Noir shouted, throwing out a commanding arm. The Persona cast its arm out in the same motion as its summoner, and dozens of multicolored balls of light appeared in the sky, all zooming towards Shido, who was still pinned to the floor.

  


In a bright flash of light, Shido and Anat disappeared, engulfed by the psychokinetic attack. A powerful shockwave emanated from the blast, causing the rest of them to hold up their arms against it as the platform they stood on shook beneath their feet. Then, as the distorted waves of color vanished, Anat had disappeared, leaving Shido lying on the ground, groaning and coughing, trying desperately to push himself upright.

  


Queen staggered and fell sideways, into the grip of Panther. She’d been forced to take most of the hit as well, but she looked at Noir with stoic eyes and gave her a proud, if weary, grin.

  


Akechi looked back at Joker, who was smiling with barely controlled pride at seeing all of his comrades, the Phantom Thieves he’d watched come so far, work so flawlessly together. He allowed himself to smirk. He had to admit, it  _ had _ been a pretty nice combo.

  


Joker turned to face him, eyes shining with emotion. Akechi waited for him to say something trite about  _ friendship _ or  _ bonds _ , or something, but he never did. He only looked at Akechi with the same look he gave all his teammates…

  


His… friends.

  


“You’re… really sure about this, huh…?” Akechi asked quietly.

  


Joker merely grinned. “There’s always a spot for you here, you know… It’s up to you. Having a ninth thief… wouldn’t be so bad.”

  


Nine.

  


Akechi smirked inadvertently again.

  


It couldn’t get more ironic than this.

  


“Well, if you insist…” He shook his head slowly. “You’re really impossible to figure out, you know that?”

  


“Yeah, I’ve been told.”

  


Time seemed to freeze around them as Akehi looked at his rival’s masked face. In that moment, the fraction of a second as he and Joker locked eyes, Akechi felt as if they understood each other better than they had ever done.

  


And then, he heard a familiar voice echoing in the corners of his mind…

  


_ I am thou,  _ **_thou_ ** _ art I _ …

_ Thou hast turned a  _ **_vow_ ** _ into a blood oath. _

  


_ Thy bond shall become the wings of  _ **_rebellion_ ** _ and  _ **_break_ ** _ the yolk of thy heart. _

  


_ Thou hast awakened to the ultimate  _ **_secret_ ** _ of Justice, granting thee infinite  _ **_power_ ** …

  


Akechi gasped, feeling something inside him break as if chains had been shattered from around his heart. From the look in Joker’s grey eyes, his rival had just experienced the same thing he had. For a moment, they could only stare at each other, breathing heavily as they felt the bond that connected them break into pieces, reforming and forging into something new, something stronger than they ever could have had alone.

  


Then, at the same time, they grinned, turning to face the same way and crying out together.

  


“Come, Arsene!”

  


“Come, Loki!”

  


The two Personas appeared, hovering beside each other over the two rivals. But before either Trickster could issue a command to their other selves, something began to happen to them. Both looked up in surprise as a swirl of what appeared to be pure light engulfed both Personas, wrapping them together in a shining cocoon. Then, it exploded, forcing Joker and Crow to shield their eyes.

  


When they lowered their arms, they could only stare at what they saw in awed silence.

  


In the place the two Personas had hovered moments ago was now one, a floating humanoid figure whose entire body seemed to radiate light. Its metallic-looking body was wrapped in a fluttering white toga, while gigantic feathery wings spread out from its back.

  


At once, they both understood what it was.

  


_ I am Metatron, _ the Persona spoke in a deep, reverberating voice as he looked down upon the pair.  _ I am he who sits behind the throne of Heaven. Your resolve combined has awakened you to my unlimited power. Should you wish me to destroy your enemies, I shall do so. Listen! And tremble in fear! I am one with God! By His will, I shall destroy any whose soul is tainted with evil! _

  


Akechi turned back to Joker, who looked just as stunned as he was, but met his eye with a fierce resolve.

  


It was time for some rehabilitation.

  


“This… is the limit of our justice…” Akechi breathed, feeling a rush of excitement as the immensely powerful Persona loomed over them. “A fitting end for the man who ruined both our lives, wouldn’t you say?”

  


Joker’s face split into a wide grin. “I couldn’t agree more!” He turned back to their target, the look in his eyes hardening. “Heh… There’s plenty of prey for both of us… You ready for this?”

  


“I have been ready for a while,” Akechi replied smoothly, turning back to Shido, who now stood in the center of the platform, swaying with fatigue, surrounded by the Phantom Thieves. Alone, powerless, and defenseless. Perfect.

  


_ “It’s all on you!” _ Oracle’s voice sounded, resonating directly within their minds, as she spoke to them through her Persona.  _ “He’s weak! He has nothing left to hide behind! This is it!” _ Akechi heard the navigator’s voice rising with excitement and passion, and she cried out a single order to them in a grim, yet exhilarated breath.  _ “Fuck him up!” _

  


Now  _ that _ was an order he could get behind.

  


“Heheh… As you wish.” Smirking at the navigator’s enthusiasm, Akechi pulled up the skill menu once more, mentally eyeing Metatron’s new abilities, and could tell Joker was doing the same beside him. 

  


“Ah, this should do,” Joker said after a moment, raising his hand to his mask and glancing at Akechi. “Let’s do this.”

  


Akechi tore off his mask, yelling in sync with Joker.

  


“MEGIDOLAON!”

  


Metatron raised his arms, his body shining with an almost blinding light, as a hail of spheres, pulsing with pure energy, appeared in the sky above the platform. Like arrows from heaven, the almighty blasts of destruction fell repeatedly on the battlefield, smiting any evil that was unfortunate enough to be caught in their wake. And Shido, unable to move, was standing directly in the center.

  


As one, the other members of the Phantom Thieves leapt back, turning to watch Joker and Crow, their eyes shining with awe. Mona was hopping up and down like crazy, caterwauling in triumph. Skull was grinning like a maniac, throwing his fists in the air. Panther and Queen, still clutching one another, were whooping with glee. Fox, chuckling with quiet satisfaction, stood next to Noir, who was giggling quite madly, small droplets of red flying from her mouth.

  


These people were all completely crazy.

  


Akechi grinned.

  


Then again, so was he.

  


He laughed freely, shaking with mirth alongside Joker, as they watched their enemy go down with dark pleasure.

  


_ “Ooh! Looking cool, you two!” _ Oracle’s voice was positively ringing with glee.

  


Akechi chuckled. “With skills like these, it’s hard not to…”

  


He could almost see her roll her eyes behind him.  _ “Yeah, yeah, whatever… Don’t get cocky yet!" _

  


“Heh… Affirmative.”

  


As the last blast fell, the intense light faded, silhouetting a beaten figure inside it. Shido,  _ somehow _ , was still standing, reeling with the force of the assault, but glaring at the two Phantom Thieves with an unspeakable, blazing fury.

  


But they weren’t finished yet.

  


“Now!” Akechi shouted, darting forward at the same time as Joker. They broke apart, dashing on opposite sides of their opponent as they withdrew their firearms. Joker struck first, rushing at Shido and slashing at him with a knife, then darting back out before he could retaliate. One strike, just a feint, then he was out of his opponent’s field of vision.

  


Shido, for a moment, hissed as his wound dripped shining blood down his arm. Akechi took advantage of his distraction to fire, rolling low onto the ground while blasting two bullets from a long, silenced pistol. The bullets flew at Shido with deadly accuracy, just barely missing him. But they did manage to draw his attention away from Joker.

  


Akechi’s grin widened. They didn’t even need Personas to kick this guy’s ass. The two of them moved with a practiced rhythm, their expertise as Phantom Thieves perceptible with every movement, every smooth maneuver. They complimented each other well, making up for the weaknesses of the other, blending together like a brilliantly perfect cup of coffee.

  


But then, before Akechi could stand up, Shido rounded on him, rage smoldering in his eyes. He drew back his arm and aimed it at Akechi, lunging for him once more with impossible speed. This time, though, Akechi locked eyes with him and grinned back smugly. This time, he was not afraid.

  


_ You have my back… don’t you, Joker? _

  


A sudden  _ bang _ rang out, and Shido stopped, eyes widening in pain and surprise, before falling to one knee. Blood trailed down his leg as he threw his head over his shoulder furiously. Joker crouched behind him, holding up a revolver, smoke trailing from the barrel. In one subtle motion, the Phantom Thief raised it to his mouth and blew across it, dispersing the smoke.

  


Shido was down.

  


_ Nice shot… show off. _

  


At once, the two of them moved forward, training their guns on the fallen man, feeling the eyes of the other Phantom Thieves watching them, their jaws hanging wide with admiration. And as they circled Shido, closing down on him, Oracle’s cheer rang through them; a simple, joyous cry of pride.

  


_ “Now those’re my boys…!” _

  


Akechi smirked, locking eyes with Joker over Shido’s head, nodding once as he tensed with anticipation.

  


This would be a massacre.

  


As one, Crow and Joker leapt at their target to begin an all-out attack.

  


With blinding speed, they flew past Shido again and again, becoming nothing but blurs of red and black, striking him, slashing him, feeling his body tear and break under the full force of their power. Akechi laughed, and laughed, and laughed, feeling cold, hard justice resonating through every bit of him as they finally took their glorious revenge.

  


And then, just as suddenly as it started, it was over, and they ceased their attack, leaping away from their downed enemy and landing with style, posing together, back to back, as their teammates cheered in exhilarated victory.

  


They were so. Fucking.  _ Awesome. _

  


Akechi watched as his prey, the man he’d finally defeated, rose to his feet after the assault. Shido managed to stand, though barely, as a swirling mixture of red and black shadows fell over him. His powerful physique had vanished, and he looked like an ordinary man once more, albeit covered in countless bruises and injuries. Akechi could tell he no longer had the strength to fight.

  


It was over.

  


  


* * *

  


  


Red and black.

  


Red and black.

  


Red and black.

  


Red and black flashed, over and over again, in the corners of his vision, bringing sharp pain with them every time.

  


Something horrible had just happened.

  


“Sir!” a worried voice cried out behind him.

  


Shido gasped, leaning against the large glass window of his office, staring out unseeingly at the skyline of Tokyo as a horrible, twisting sensation took hold of his heart. His insides writhed with a sense of alarm, but it wasn’t because of pain.

  


He felt as if he were losing a part of himself.

  


“No…” he breathed, trying to push down the rising panic by sheer force of will. “Did they… succeed?”

  


Shido turned, glaring angrily at the assortment of his subordinates that were gathered in the room, all looking at him with mildly concerned expressions. He snarled at them. They were all a pack of incompetent imbeciles! He wasn’t someone who should be looked at with concern! He was Masayoshi Shido! He should be the one standing over them all, not groaning like some child with the flu! He could not show weakness. He could not afford to lose now!

  


“You!” he demanded, pointing to a man wearing a lab coat, who was staring at him fearfully. His eyes locked on the small bottle of serum clutched in his hands, the serum that was his last hope. “Will I really be able to kill the Phantom Thieves if I take that?”

  


“According to Wakaba Isshiki’s research…” the man began uncertainly, taking a step back as Shido stumbled toward him. “Temporarily collapsing a Palace will take down anyone inside it as well. The abrupt nature of the collapse means they will be unable to escape without extreme luck.”

  


That was confirmation enough for Shido. Isshiki’s research was never wrong.

  


“However,” the man continued, “the only way to purposely erase a cognitive world is by halting biological activity. In other words, this medicine will temporarily kill you. There are great risks involved…”

  


Shido growled in irritation. Risks? Of course there were risks. But one had to be willing to take risks in order to be successful. Shido hadn’t gotten this far by refusing to take risks, cowering in fear and security like a frightened child. He was going to be the one to rule Japan, no matter the cost. That was what all those sacrifices had been for.

  


“Anything will do! Give it to me!” he snarled, snatching the bottle from the man’s hand. The researcher stumbled away from him, letting out a gasp, but Shido had already thrown his head back, swallowing the serum in one gulp.

  


As soon as the drug entered his body, he felt a hot, writhing pain course through his throat, his lungs, and his heart. Molten lava seemed to drip down into the pit of his stomach, melting him, destroying him from the inside. But he felt a deep, grim satisfaction, knowing that the pain spreading through him would also engulf the children who were after his heart. If he wasn’t to come out of this unscathed, they wouldn’t be coming out of it at all. “Now… they’re done for…” he breathed.

  


Then at once, as if a light had gone out inside his head, the room blurred into darkness, closing down upon the edges of his vision. With one last gasp, Shido dropped to his knees and collapsed forward, falling to the ground with a  _ thud, _ and drifted into the abyss of darkness, a small smile alight on his lips.

  


  


* * *

  


  


This… was  _ not _ over!

  


Shido growled weakly in defiance, stubbornly pushing himself up from the ground. He was spent. Any feeling of power he’d felt before had long since evaporated. Pain beyond pain crashed against his body, paralyzing him with exhaustion. But he had to move, he had to stand up, he had to keep fighting…

  


How in the world had Akechi managed to manifest such a power? A power greater than  _ his _ ? How had Akechi, the meek and submissive young boy, the one who’d always followed Shido’s commands without question, actually managed to defeat him?

  


He staggered unsteadily on his feet, panting, forcing himself to stand even as he felt his body warp and disintegrate, flickering around the edges. He was slowly being removed from this world… from the cognition.

  


It couldn’t end like this. He still had it, his Treasure, the dream he had to fulfill…

  


Out of the sky, the wheel of a ship floated down to hover above him, glittering like gold.

  


“I must steer this country!” Shido said weakly, staring up at his Treasure. He couldn’t let them take it. It was the only thing he had left. “If I don’t, who will…?”

  


He took a step forward, firmly planting one foot in front of him. He stood on it shakily for a few moments before it buckled beneath him, sending him falling forward. He collapsed, bleeding and coughing on the ground, and looked up pathetically at the Phantom Thieves, the ones who’d come to take his heart, and his desires, away.

  


His will to fight was gone. He’d been drained of the will to win. But it was not because of the dull, throbbing pain that laced over his body, and it wasn’t even because the words or resolve the children had displayed to him. It had been seeing them all, one by one, striking him, moving as one, protecting one another even as intense hatred for him burned through every one of them. 

  


How did they do it? How had they managed to work together so flawlessly? How did they have so much… trust in one another?

  


It was incomprehensible to Shido.

  


Having trust in other people only made you more vulnerable.  _ Relying _ on others made you vulnerable. The fear he instilled in others ensured their absolute loyalty to him, and he used them as effectively as they could be used. If they were only pawns in a game of chance dictated by the will of the masses, it didn’t matter what kind of sacrifices had to be made. Those useless masses could never be changed unless they had a powerful leader controlling them! He had only gotten where he was now by being strong, by refusing to overlook any failure or weakness, no matter how small!

  


He began coughing again, his throat convulsing and constricting as he hacked several painful breaths. The wood beneath him appeared red.

  


Except…

  


No… that wasn’t entirely true, was it? He was beginning to remember something he’d forgotten. He’d only gotten so far in the first place because of his wish to prove himself worthy… because of his steadfast dedication to making his dream come true… 

  


Because Sakura had believed in him.

  


At that moment, Shido felt himself break, his insides slowly growing colder and colder. Everything he’d shut away and tried to deny came rushing back to him unconditionally, filling him with what he’d lost all those years ago.

  


He… he’d made a terrible mistake.

  


Once again, he looked up at the Phantom Thieves, the children who stood against the corruption of society, of people like him, with unflinching determination to make a change in the world. They weren’t looking at him as they’d done before, with contemptuous and scornful glares. They were watching him gasp and heave on ground before them, looking down at him with something close to pity in their eyes. Shido could only let out an exasperatedly confused breath. After everything he’d done to them, after he’d tried to fling his rotten guilt onto them and crush them completely, they had the capacity to pity him? They were all so odd…

  


Akechi broke away from them and walked slowly towards Shido, kneeling down and meeting his eyes.

  


“This country doesn’t need to be led by someone like you,” he said, staring levelly at Shido. “Someone who rules by intimidation and steps over the sacrifices of the weak for their own gain. You’ve ruined the lives of countless innocents for the sake of your own aspirations, and your twisted tongue has warped the minds of the public into believing in your false promises. Someone like you… has no right to live.”

  


Shido saw Akechi slowly lift his gun, pointing it directly between his eyes.

  


“Akechi-kun!”

  


“I swore… that I would kill you.” Akechi spoke quietly, his hand trembling around the weapon, tensing his finger on the trigger. “I swore that I alone would be the one to put an end to you once and for all. I swore that I wouldn’t stop until I’d forced you to go through the same torture and hell that I experienced every day!” He paused for a fraction of a second, his finger tightening. His eyes were filled with pure hatred. 

  


But then, his head turned slightly, glancing behind him for the briefest of moments, and something within him seemed to change.

  


“But that… is no longer my goal. And it’s no longer my right. Besides… I’ve had enough of this.” Akechi loosened his grip, letting the gun fall to the ground, for the first time, neglecting to kill.

  


“You will return, and you will confess your crimes. All of them.”

  


Shido would. He knew the change of heart would force him to confess regardless, but it no longer mattered to him. It no longer made a difference. He just needed to do one last thing before it was over.

  


He needed… to make things right.

  


“Akechi…” Shido whispered, looking at his son sadly, watching him glare back with smoldering eyes. “Is this… the answer you’ve decided upon?”

  


“From here on, whatever I do, I’ll do it without you.” Akechi’s voice shook, but his eyes never wavered, staring at his father with clear purpose behind them. “I will no longer be a self-centered brat who lets the strong get away with manipulating the weak. You won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

  


Shido sighed, smiling a little at the proudly puffed-up response. He supposed Akechi had always been a smart mouthed brat like this, even when he’d been working for Shido. It was a distinctive trait he’d undeniably gotten straight from Shido himself. How had he never noticed that before? How had he failed to appreciate it before?

  


How… could he have ever had the gall to believe that this… that  _ any _ of this… had to come at the cost of his own… son…?

  


“Akechi…” he breathed. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry… I know it won’t make a difference to you… I know nothing I can ever do will be enough to atone for my sins… but still… I want you to live.” He looked solemnly into his son’s eyes, trying with the last bit of his strength to impart his wishes onto him. “You… You may be able to do what I couldn’t. Just… try not to end up like me.”

  


Akechi said nothing, rising to his feet, his expression unreadable.

  


Feeling himself ebb away bit by bit, Shido turned to look, once more, at the girl, the girl with those breathtakingly beautiful violet eyes.

  


He was sure that she, out of all others, had been the one to change his heart. As soon as he’d realized who she was, it was as if something had splintered off inside him, lodging itself inside his heart and refusing to move. Everything that had led to this point came pouring back into him, and any concern for what came next had been torn away.

  


He… was empty. And yet he also felt a strange sense of peace, as he let the raw emotion inside him free, free of the cage he’d kept it in for so long.

  


“Futaba…” he whispered the girl’s name for the first time. It had a nice ring to it.

  


Futaba looked down at him, her expression unreadable behind her goggles. Slowly, she reached a trembling hand up and removed them again, staring at him with a disorderly mixture of confusion, anger, pity, fear, and a deep, aching sadness all swirling together in her violet eyes. As the two looked at each other, neither moving, neither knowing what to say or how to feel, Shido almost thought as though he could see the light, hazy form of a woman standing behind her. A woman with dark hair and glasses, looking at him in the same way.

  


_ If only… _

  


_ …If only what? _

  


Shido didn’t know what he wanted.

  


He could only imagine what things could have been like if they had been different.

  


For a moment, the Shadow reflected on everything that had happened. He wondered momentarily what his real self would do now, not knowing any of what had transpired within the Palace.

  


Not knowing what had transpired in his heart.

  


But as he thought this, a feeling of purity ran through him, like a river in the desert, washing away the filth from his heart, cleansing him of his distorted desires, filling him with a peculiar, unplaceable feeling.

  


He stared longingly at the young girl, feeling a wave of sorrow unlike anything he’d ever felt. Unable to convey what he felt in words, he could only stare at her, offering her a miserable apology.

  


There was something about her, something within her that resonated so distinctly with him, and yet for a moment he couldn’t fathom what it was. But then, in a moment of wonderful clarity, it came to him. It was something he’d never seen when looking at the indolent masses of Japan, living their lives in blissful ignorance, unwilling to face the harshness of reality around them, pushing all of their desires onto those in control and giving up their sense of purpose. It was something he’d long since lost himself. Yet it was something this girl, shaking and scared though she was, but standing determinedly against the distortion in the world, and in him, fighting with all her strength, had in abundance.

  


Hope.

  


The Shadow slowly closed his eyes, feeling himself drift into nothingness, returning to his other self. The last thing he saw was a pair of violet eyes, boring straight into his, brimming with emotion, pain, and fear, but above all, hope. A smile played on his lips.

  


_ You have an amazing daughter, Sakura… _

  


  


* * *

  


  


The Shadow was gone.

  


It was just… a Shadow.

  


Akechi kept his back to the others, furiously blinking his itching eyes. He must’ve grazed them accidentally while ripping his mask off before, that was all. Silently, he flipped up his visor off to wipe them on his sleeve impatiently, then turned his head to locate the thing he was really here for.

  


The Treasure, the glittering ship’s wheel, now floated slowly closer to the ground, over the spot the Shadow had disappeared from. Akechi took a step toward it, holding out a hand as it drifted slowly into his grasp. It felt surprisingly warm, emanating a certain sense of heat for being just an ordinary wooden object. Akechi pulled it down, looking over the glowing sheen curiously, wrapped in thought. It didn’t seem possible that a thing like this could’ve been at the center of such distortion, could’ve steered one man off track so horribly and irreversibly…

  


“Hey!” A voice from behind pulled him from his contemplation, and Akechi turned to see Skull glaring at him. “You think you can just snatch our Treasure like that?”

  


“I thought you only wanted to change Shido's heart?” Akechi gave him a small grin, tilting his head as the blonde boy sputtered.

  


“Well… W-Well, yeah, but… I-I mean…” After gibbering for a moment, trying to string together a cohesive argument, he threw his head exasperatedly toward their leader. “Joker! Back me up here!”

  


Joker grinned, placing his red gloved hands into his pockets. “Well, ‘to the victor go the spoils,’ as the saying goes,” he said, speaking to Skull, but looking at Akechi. His tone had receded into nonchalance, but it carried a note of amusement all the same. “I think we can afford to call this a shared victory, don’t you?”

  


Skull sighed dramatically, putting his yellow gloves into his own pockets and letting his shoulders droop. “Seriously?” he grumbled. “We came all the way here, kicked the crap outta Shido, and now we're just going to let  _ detective boy _ take all the credit for — ”

  


At that moment, the sound of a huge explosion rocked the ship, drowning out the rest of his words.

  


They all cried out in astonishment, some being knocked to their feet, as the platform they stood on tipped sideways slightly, resting at an angle.

  


“What’s happening?” Panther cried, trying to push herself upright. “An explosion?”

  


“Is it because we took the Treasure…?” Queen muttered in confusion, glancing at the wheel in Akechi’s hands.

  


“What’s going on, Oracle?” Fox asked, glancing at the navigator as she frantically called up screens in front of her, her eyes darting over them in a panic.

  


“I-I don’t know!” she replied uncertainly. “The ship is exploding… but why!?”

  


“What kinda sloppy explanation is that!?” Skull demanded.

  


“I don’t know what’s happening either!” Oracle cried back indignantly. She looked intently at something on one of the screens, analyzing some piece of data. “It’s like some… outside entity just came in and screwed up the whole cognition!”

  


Akechi narrowed his eyes. It was as he had expected. He had had an inkling something like this might’ve ended up happening the moment he’d set foot inside the Palace. Despite how little it was to brag about, he  _ did _ know his father rather well, after all.

  


“Something must have happened to the real Shido!” he shouted to the others. Their eyes all darted towards him. “He’s trying to take us down inside the Palace!”

  


“Dude, for real?” Skull yelped, looking amazed. “How petty can that guy get?”

  


“We can talk later!” Mona commanded, fixing his eyes on Akechi. “We have to get out of here now! Crow, keep a tight grip on that thing!”

  


“You can count on me, Mona.” Akechi grinned, giving the black cat an overexaggerated bow. Mona rolled his eyes.

  


“Just don’t fall behind,” he meowed back snarkily, giving Akechi a toothy grin.

  


The Phantom Thieves of Hearts all looked at each other, the knowledge of what they had to do evident in their eyes. They had known each other for long enough to be able to tell what the others were thinking behind their masks. They all knew what was coming.

  


Another explosion rocked the ship around them, but they didn’t flinch this time. A wonderfully familiar feeling was welling up inside each of them, revving up slowly like the roar of an engine.

  


No, more like the opening guitar riff of an uplifting song… 

  


“Well then…” Akechi said, looking at his fellow thieves with a cheerfully unfazed grin as barely containable excitement bubbled in him. This was the best part. “Shall we finish this heist?”

  


“Hell yeah!” For once, Skull agreed with him, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s blow this hotdog stand!”

  


“Is everyone ready?” Joker asked. Eight resolute nods answered him.

  


They all whirled around, tensing, their hearts as one, waiting for the command…

  


“Run!”

  


And run they did, leaping off the wooden platform down into the room that imitated the chamber of representatives, dashing between the rows of seats and sprinting for the door. Akechi ran with them all, clutching the wheel under his arm as he fell in between Panther and Noir.

  


There weren’t words to describe the exhilarating feeling that this was giving him, a feeling of absolute joy and freedom coursing through his body as he ran with reckless abandon, alongside these people, his comrades, his  _ friends _ . For a moment, he forgot who he was. He forgot how he had gotten here, he forgot about the danger around them, he forgot about everything that didn’t have to do with stealing. Right now, Akechi couldn’t think of anything else but the sheer thrill of the heist. He laughed joyfully, soaring on like a crow in the wind.

  


This was who he really was. This was where he was meant to be.

  


The team tore through the magnificent halls of the ship, Skull taking the lead, as the floors slowly started tilting further and further to the side. Their feet pounded on the polished floor, kicking up the weird, omnipresent purple liquid of the Metaverse as they dashed forward with all their might. They were running full-tilt, approaching an intersection, when suddenly —

  


“Woah, stop, stop!”

  


Skull’s voice called out an alarm as he skidded dramatically to a halt, staring at the floor in front of them.

  


Water was beginning to flood through the ship, gushing in through the ceiling and slowly covering the hallway before them in a deep pool.

  


“No!” Noir cried, coming to a stop behind Skull.

  


“Our path…” Queen’s eyes widened in terror.

  


“Still, where else can we go?” Fox wondered aloud, gazing at the rest of them despairingly.

  


“Crap, this side too!” Skull grunted, looking down another hall as the water started to seep higher.

  


They all looked at each other, panic rising in their eyes. “We are  _ not _ going to die like this!” Mona’s determined voice rang out fiercely.

  


Akechi turned and raked his eyes across the halls of the ship. Surely there had to be something, some means for them to escape?

  


It was Oracle who spotted it, Oracle who pointed and cried “Up there!”

  


They all looked up, eyes landing on a ladder near the ceiling that led higher up, the word ESCAPE written in bold red letters behind it.

  


“Es-ca-pay!” Oracle said dramatically, doing a little jig and grinning at the others. “You know, it’s funny, it’s spelled just like the word ‘escape’, and — ”

  


“Less talkin’, more escapin’!” Skull interrupted her, dashing past her over to the wall beneath the ladder. He knelt down, looking back at the Phantom Thieves, his eyes alight with determination, and formed a step with his hands. “Come on, let’s get going!”

  


One by one they were all lifted up, placing a foot onto the yellow step and leaping up to grab the metal ladder. One by one they climbed higher up, disappearing into a hatch on the ceiling. But Akechi had suddenly realized there was a huge problem.

  


When at last it was only Skull and Crow remaining, the blonde-haired boy glared at Akechi stubbornly.

  


“Come on, you too!”

  


“It won’t be easy for me to climb out of here while I’m holding this,” Akechi pointed out, lifting up the bulky ship’s wheel. Ironically, it was now more like an anchor holding him down. “I’d just be holding you back. You should go without me.”

  


“Dude, are you kidding me?” Skull looked at him incredulously. “Okay, for one thing, that’s the freakin’ Treasure. We kinda need that. Two, Joker’d freakin’  _ kill _ me if I just left you here. Stop bein’ so damn stubborn!”

  


Akechi snorted. So  _ he _ was the stubborn one, was he? His thoughts were drawn back to the few times they had interacted. The blonde had formed an opinion of him almost immediately after seeing that television special: that he was a stuck-up pretty boy whose only concern was for his charming public image. He’d always complained loudly of Akechi’s presence whenever he’d come up to them, wanting nothing more than a friendly chat with their leader, even after Akechi had joined them. No, perhaps  _ especially _ after he joined them.

  


But still, as they looked at each other in the dark hallway of the sinking ship, neither budging an inch, Akechi could see a solid, unyielding determination glare back at him from behind Skull’s mask. His mind was made up. He wasn’t moving until Akechi had gotten out with the rest of them.

  


Another explosion sounded distantly down the hallway from the two thieves, and Akechi suddenly felt a cold sensation wash over his feet. Even with the metal boots on, he stiffened.

  


Ick. Water. Must escape water.

  


Moving instinctively, Akechi took a running start and leapt onto Skull’s hands, hearing the thief grunt with effort as he lifted him up, then reached out with the hand not clutching the Treasure and managed to grab one of the rungs of the ladder.

  


“Dude, awesome!” Skull’s impressed bark came from below as Akechi gritted his teeth, gripping the iron bar tightly. “Can you make it?”

  


“This… is nothing!” Akechi hissed through his teeth, determined not to show weakness now that he’d accepted the insufferable fool’s help. He tensed, flexing the muscles in his arm, and pushed himself slightly higher into the air, latching onto the next rung. He looked back down at Skull, who was now standing alone in the corridor as it slowly filled with water. “What about you?”

  


The blonde boy grinned back at him, though Akechi could hardly see what was so amusing about his situation. Before he could ask the idiot what he was thinking, though, said idiot was suddenly running at the wall, leaping higher than any of them could have done, stretching out his hand and barely managing to grasp the lowest rung of the ladder.

  


“Piece of cake, man!” the athlete grinned up at Akechi, holding the bar beneath his feet. “Now hurry it up, would ya?”

  


Painfully, Akechi worked his way up the ladder, throwing himself up one rung at a time, and heard Skull slowly following him. The sounds of rushing water slowly faded behind them as they climbed into a dark shaft.

  


“Dude, for real though…” Skull's voice sounded in the gloom, echoing off the metal walls. “You need to eat more, man. You’re freakin’  _ light _ ! Not as light as Fox, but…”

  


Akechi chose to ignore his comment ( _ I happen to like cup noodles alright fight me _ ), making his way up the rest of the climb in silence. When at last he reached the top, he saw it open into a deep blue night sky, starlight shining down upon him. Just then, a silhouetted face appeared over the edge of the opening, grinning down at him.

  


“Need a hand?” Joker asked, reaching a red glove down to Akechi. Grunting, Akechi lifted the needlessly heavy wheel above him, tossing it to Joker, then climbed the rest of the way normally, feeling his right arm ache sorely.

  


Once he emerged, he saw the rest of the Phantom Thieves gathered around a window in the wall of the ship, where the night sky filtered through, watching as the enormous ark exploded below them. They all seemed at a loss for what to do next. They were now in one of the high chambers of the diet building, looking down at the tumbling ocean far beneath them. They’d managed to escape the floodwaters for now, but they still needed to reach the front of the ship if they hoped to escape.

  


“We’re gonna die!” Oracle cried desperately, clutching her head and flailing about animatedly. “I don’t know how to swim!” Akechi watched her for a moment, interested. All things considered, she seemed to have recovered from the revelations she had experienced only minutes prior quite well.

  


Joker returned the Treasure to Akechi before walking over to her, placing a hand on her head comfortingly. She quelled instantly, pressing herself against the tall boy almost like a cat. It was more than a little suspicious, and not for the first time that night, Akechi wondered exactly how close the two were. He shook his head, willing himself not to get distracted. There were far more important things to worry about now.

  


Their leader’s eyes darted around, taking in the scene and trying to decide where to go next. There weren’t many options, as the floor beneath them continued to tilt ever so slowly to the side. They were running out of time.

  


“Over there!” Skull, having clambered out of the shaft behind Akechi, pointed over their heads, drawing their attention to an object far in the distance. A fairly sizeable lifeboat hung suspended in the air, bolted to a crane protruding from the deck of the ship.

  


“We just gotta get there…” Skull muttered, scratching his chin.

  


“It’s too far!” Fox pointed out, glancing down as the ship continued to sink even lower into the treacherous waters below. “We won’t reach it in time…!”

  


Akechi turned to look at Skull, who was staring out the window with a firm resolution visible in his eyes. He looked from the lifeboat, to Akechi, still clutching the Treasure, to Joker, a look of deep and immediate understanding passing between the two so quickly Akechi could almost feel it rush past him. Skull took a deep breath before speaking.

  


“I got this.”

  


“Huh…?” The rest of the Phantom Thieves all turned around to look at him in confusion.

  


“Hang tight,” he said shortly, putting his foot on the windowsill. “I’ll nab the boat.”

  


“Ryuji!”

  


Before anyone could stop him, he leaped out the window, landing on the outer wall of the diet building, which was now nearly flat. He placed both hands on the surface and pulled one leg back, priming himself like a runner on the track field. He was in his element now. This was just another race. But this time, he was running for his friends.

  


“It’s now or never… Here goes! Aaaaaaah!” With a fierce cry, he rocketed forward, his feet flying with an unrivaled speed as he zoomed towards the other end of the ship, which was now tilted almost completely to the side, cutting into the sky with its prow.

  


Akechi watched the progress of the figure running at breakneck speed with eyes equally as wide and awestruck as the rest of the Phantom Thieves. Damn, he was fast! Akechi was sure he’d never seen anyone run so fast in his life. But what was he going to do once he reached the insurmountable wall that towered over him?

  


His doubting query was answered soon enough, as Skull leaped into the air, soaring over the great chasm of water beneath him, his form suddenly silhouetted by a huge explosion that burst from a part of the ship near him. He landed, gripping the sheer surface with his yellow gloves, and with the forceful roar of an enraged ape,  _ started running up the side of the ship. _

  


Akechi heard himself gasp along with the rest, their eyes bulging right out of their heads as they watched the jaw-dropping scene, like something out of an anime. It wasn’t possible, the logical side of Akechi’s mind said, it just wasn’t feasible for a human being to be capable of such an incredible feat.

  


But this was the Metaverse, not the real world. Screw the rules.

  


Akechi couldn’t help but let out a laugh, his voice melding with the other members as Panther let out a exhilarated shout of encouragement.

  


“GO!”

  


Suddenly, Akechi stiffened, his attention taken off the daring sprint as something coiled around his arm, the one that wasn’t holding the Treasure. He looked down to see Oracle, her violet eyes burning with intensity. She barely seemed aware of the fact that she was holding on to him; she was watching Skull with a wide-eyed expression of mixed fear and excitement. He tried to move his arm, but found it impossible, her gloved hands clutching him in a vice-like grip. The grip was surprisingly painful for someone so small, but Akechi managed to wrench his attention away from her and look back to Skull. Surely she’d tried to instinctively latch onto Joker and had grabbed him by mistake.

  


In the distance, the former track star ran ahead unflinchingly as orange clouds of smoke and flame plumed into being around him. His eyes were focused straight ahead, fixed on the finish line, as his legs pounded relentlessly on the metal deck of the ark. With one final grunt of effort, he leaped again, reaching out and latching onto a large handle that cranked beneath his weight, causing the crane to swing around and lower the lifeboat into the water. 

  


Having exited through the window, the Phantom Thieves all rushed down to the point where the lifeboat came crashing into the waves. Akechi, stumbling forward slightly, found that he was still being clung to insistently by the small navigator. She was like a remora.  _ Why _ had he had the misfortune to have been standing near her when she had decided she needed a teddy bear to squeeze? Grumbling in resignation, he ran alongside her as the group stepped into their ark one by one, staring fixedly at Skull.

  


“We’re moving!” Fox announced, his hands on the rudder as he started the engine. The boat started to move forward steadily with a low hum.

  


Skull dangled precariously from the high crane as the ship tipped even further up. His face was twisted with effort as he clung to the crane for dear life, but he still looked immensely satisfied, grinning down victoriously at the rest of the Phantom Thieves, who all cheered enthusiastically as they steered the boat closer to him.

  


“Way to go, Skull!”

  


“That was  _ awesome _ !”

  


“Simply picturesque!”

  


“What a fucking badass!”

  


“Dude, what kind of steroids have you been taking?”

  


“I guess you are good for something, Skull!”

  


Okay, even Akechi had to admit, that had been  _ pretty _ badass.

  


Out of all of them, Panther stayed silent, staring up at the triumphant hero with a look Akechi couldn’t possibly begin to describe. As Skull looked down and met her eye, he grinned broadly, removing one hand from the lever and putting it forward, giving her a thumbs up and a wink.

  


Akechi could tell Panther could’ve fainted from that.

  


But just then, a deafening sound blasted from the water in front of them, and the world turned red.

  


They all cried out in surprise, covering themselves with their arms as the force of an explosion whipped past them. The boat rocked in the turbulent waves, nearly pitching them all over the side, as hot air and smoke enveloped them.

  


When the smoke cleared, they could see the crane still intact, devoid of the one who’d been clinging tightly to it. Like fireworks, a series of blinding explosions burst from the massive hull of the ship, filling the sky with a beautifully horrifying spectacle. As the blasts engulfed the remains of the ship in a crackling tower of flame, Panther’s breathless, disbelieving whisper could be heard.

  


“No way… It can’t be… Come on, what the hell, Ryuji…”

  


They all stared for a moment that seemed to last an eternity. Then a piercing, grief-stricken scream cracked through the air like a whip.

  


_ “RYUJI!” _

  


But before they could do anything else, before they could tear their eyes from the vast empty space where a cocky, inspiring grin had just been, they all felt a familiar rippling sensation, a blurring wave of red and black crossing their vision that signaled the navigation from the Metaverse to the real world.

  


They were going back.

  


  


* * *

  


  


_ You have returned to the real world. Welcome back. _

  


The clear female voice sounded almost like a sneer.

  


The night was still, and peaceful, as the Phantom Thieves slowly awoke to their presence in the real world. Akechi’s eyes drifted open, taking in his surroundings. Their assorted thief outfits had vanished. They looked like ordinary high schoolers again.

  


They stood gathered by the corner of the street by the diet building, a single streetlamp shining down like a spotlight on all of them, as each one looked at each other in shock.

  


Almost all of them.

  


The blonde-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

  


“Ryuji!?” Takamaki called out immediately.

  


A deep, cold silence answered her, an echoingly empty wind blowing past them.

  


They all looked around panickingly, sweeping their eyes up and down the dark street, searching for some sign of their missing friend. After a moment, though, there was still nothing to be found but darkness.

  


“He didn’t… make it out…” Okumura said slowly. 

  


It was the logical conclusion. They didn’t want to believe it.

  


Sakura immediately cried out indignantly. “We gotta go back!”

  


“That’s impossible…” Morgana’s voice, a quiet, apologetic mew, responded. He pawed at the ground silently, his ears drooping.

  


“Ha… haha…” Kitagawa gave a hollow chuckle, lowering his eyes. “This isn’t funny at all…”

  


“He was our fastest runner too…!” Takamaki’s voice broke, trying desperately to hold back the tears in her eyes.

  


Sakura — no, _Futaba_ — stood next to Akechi, having finally released his arm. She looked nearly as grief-stricken as Takamaki did, rubbing underneath her glasses as tears streamed down her face. 

  


Akechi nearly reached an arm out to put around her before he quickly pulled it back. Best not to rock the boat.

  


Silence overtook the group once more, but this time it was a silence thick with visibly shocked grief. They all stood rooted to the spot, unable to meet each other’s eyes, hearts twisting with a pain they couldn’t express.

  


Not knowing what to say, Akechi looked down at the Treasure still clutched in his fist. It had morphed from a ship’s wheel into a smaller, almost miniscule form. Akechi unfurled his fingers and saw that it was a legislator’s pin, a tiny piece of gold that glinted under the light.

  


Akechi snorted. So, a tiny, worthless trinket like this had given rise to the most distorted heart of all? Had Shido truly been so twisted as to think a thing like this had given him so much power? Had he really been completely fine with ruining the lives of countless innocent people, adults and children alike, all for the sake of recognition and self-gratification?

  


Had it been worth this?

  


He pocketed the pin, looking at the group of teenagers around him, all wearing pained expressions, their thoughts consumed by the scene they’d witnessed. Akechi felt like an outside observer, not knowing what to feel. Had this been how they all reacted when it seemed Akechi had died? Had they stood in silent horror, unable to move, unable to process, unable to accept? It was possible, but the pain he felt hanging over them all was unlike anything he’d ever witnessed. 

  


Akechi recalled Akira often talking about how cool his friend was, even going so far as to say he was awesome, and that he admired the way the blonde always stuck to his instincts. Maybe sometimes those instincts got a little out of hand… but that was what friends were for, right?

  


Friends… looked out for each other.

  


Akechi let out a short, inaudible snort. Sakamoto… had probably been just as likeable as  _ his _ cheap facade had been.

  


_ And just where did it get him in the end…? _

  


He swallowed, a hot feeling of anger and guilt boiling inside him.  _ How _ was this fair? What kind of a sick joke was this? Who had decided that he, Akechi, the traitor, should live, while Skull, the passionately driven Phantom Thief, the fearless defender who’d stuck by their leader since the very beginning, the one who’d just saved all their lives, was de — ?

  


“Maaaaaan, that was close…” A worn out sigh came from the darkness.

  


Everyone’s heads immediately jolted up. Striding out of the shadows, hands stuffed in his pockets and slouching over tiredly, was one Ryuji Sakamoto.

  


“For real though, why do Palaces gotta explode so much? Can’t they disappear normally?” he grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the lamppost with a sullen expression. He looked at the others, raising his eyebrows as they looked back at him with shock. “…What?”

  


He unfolded his arms and stood upright in surprise as they all rushed over to him, staring at him incredulously.

  


“Didn’t you… die?” Okumura asked breathlessly, holding a hand over her heart and looking as though she were about to faint.

  


“What!?” Sakamoto yelped, eyes widening. He raised a hand rubbed it through his short blonde hair, looking at them all in confusion. “I got blasted out from the explosion…” he muttered, seeming unsure of what they were so upset about. “When I woke up, I was lyin’ on the grass… I mean, ain’t I alive?”

  


Akechi felt something pass through the group, a single emotion and thought that flitted into each of their heads in the same instant. Sakamoto’s statement might not be true for very long.

  


“What’s this?” the blonde said with an oblivious grin, looking at Takamaki teasingly. “Your cryin’ face is so not cute.”

  


Oh, Sakamoto was  _ so _ dead.

  


“Ugh, it’s your damn fault!” the girl screamed, stomping her foot on the ground. Before he could react, she reached back and flung out an open palm, smacking him in the face and knocking him back against the streetlight.

  


“What’d I do?” Sakamoto whined indignantly, staring at her as if she’d gone crazy.

  


“We were worried about you!” Okumura responded, her voice equally high pitched.

  


“You troublemaker!” Futaba moved from beside Akechi and stepped towards Sakamoto menacingly, clenching her small fists.

  


“Wait, what’s this about…?” Sakamoto asked, nervously looking around at all his teammates.

  


The Phantom Thieves were looking at him with furiously cold eyes, like bloodhounds that had scented their prey. Sakamoto gulped, staring at them all desperately as the horrifying realization slowly sunk into him.

  


“H-Hold on… OK? C’mon, I-I… almost… k-kinda died…!” he sputtered, backing away from them. They all took another step forward, closing in on him. He made one last, feeble attempt at an appealing grin. “Uh, you guys are joking… right?”

  


Akechi, standing on the outskirts of the gathering mob, felt a small bubble of amusement as he watched the scene. It felt far more satisfying than it should have to see the moronic ape beg for his life. But just then, without warning, a sharp pain lanced through his skull.

  


He whimpered, nearly as pitifully as Sakamoto, and raised a hand to clutch his forehead. 

  


Frankly, he didn’t care what happened to the blonde idiot, even if he had technically just saved their lives — hell, the others seemed perfectly willing to ignore that fact, at any rate — but he was starting to get a massive headache, and all the angry shouting wasn’t helping. He didn’t know when the last time he actually slept was, given that he’d awoken in the Velvet Room immediately after “dying”, and re-awakening to his Persona wasn’t exactly the least taxing experience, either. Not to mention the fact that he’d subsequently been belted straight to the head by his father. The heal he’d received earlier had helped, but now that they were back in the real world, a dull, inevitable pain was slowly starting to creep back in.

  


The grim satisfaction he’d felt while finally taking revenge on his father had faded. The wild thrill of dashing through the halls of the Palace as they made their dramatic escape had departed from him.

  


He was  _ exhausted _ .

  


It seemed the only one who noticed this was Akira, who gave him a concerned glance. Then he looked back at Sakamoto, who was slowly being surrounded by an angry mob of ticked off Phantom Thieves, with an equally concerned glance. Then back at Akechi. Then Sakamoto. Then Akechi again. Then Sakamoto. He gave a small sigh, surreptitiously slipping a small object out of his pocket, glancing at the others to make sure no-one saw what he was up to.

  


_ Run _ , he mouthed at the cornered blonde, then let the object fall. It spewed forth a cloud of thick grey smoke, briefly obscuring Sakamoto from view. He took the hint, and a moment later they saw a hazy figure disappearing to the other side of the street.

  


“He’s getting away!”

  


“No! Don’t let him escape!”

  


“After him!”

  


“I’ll slice you to pieces!”

  


“Get back here, you punk!”

  


Chaos broke out as the Phantom Thieves, with the exception of Akira and Futaba, immediately tore after their target, who was now sprinting off into the darkness even harder than he had when he’d been dashing up the side of the ark. The sound of their shouts and footsteps echoed for a while in the otherwise silent night, but eventually faded into the distance. The night was quiet once more.

  


Well, as quiet as it ever got in Tokyo, anyway.

  


“Heh, that Ryuji…” Akira chuckled, shaking his head after his friends as they disappeared into the night.

  


As the smoke cleared, the trio was left standing in the dim glow of the streetlight.

  


“It’s over now…” Akechi breathed. They finally had a chance to catch their breath and process what had just happened.

  


It… might take a while.

  


He rubbed forcefully at his temples again as the pain hammered away at his head. Akira and Futaba stood beside each other, both gazing at Akechi curiously. Akechi felt nauseous once again, remembering the violent pitching of the ark as it sunk around them, and their subsequent escape on that tiny boat as it rocked and swayed on the enormous waves and—

  


He swayed on the spot, putting a hand to his mouth as he felt a familiar burning sensation rise in his chest. He was  _ not _ going to throw up again, especially in front of Akira.

  


“Hey, are you okay?” Akira asked, as if it wasn’t incredibly obvious that Akechi was  _ not _ okay.

  


“I’m fine,” he lied, firmly planting his feet on the solid pavement and willing the world to stop spinning around him. He couldn’t break down yet. There were still things that he needed to do, and he needed to think straight. He was capable. He had survived on his own for years. There was no need to show weakness in front of the pair before him.

  


Now, what  _ did _ he need to do? The first thing that came to mind was sleep. He might pass out entirely if he didn’t find somewhere to rest soon. He felt sick, and tired, and hungry, and didn’t even know what day it was, or whether he had school tomorrow, or where he’d left his briefcase, or  _ what _ he was going to do about Shido now, or—

  


“What are you going to do now?” Akira asked, cutting into his train of thought, looking at him worriedly.

  


Having actually been asked the question, Akechi had no idea how to answer. He gave a tired sigh, running his fingers through his hair and looking at the ground in defeat. “Probably going to find some dumpster to crawl into…” he said in a hollow voice.

  


He couldn’t understand why they looked at him so strangely at that. Why did they care? Why did it matter what he did now? He was their enemy. He had tried to kill both of them more than once, all while tricking them into believing that he was their friend, leading them along on some false hope before plunging a knife into their backs. And now that they had stolen his father’s heart, they had no reason to even interact anymore. It would probably be better for all of them if they never saw Akechi again.

  


It would be better if no-one ever saw him again.

  


“Don’t you have any place to go?” Akira asked him, unfathomable concern evident in his voice.

  


“Of course I do,” Akechi replied dismissively. “But I’m in no mood to go back there, especially after what just happened. Besides, I already came back from the literal edge of hell. Anywhere’s better than that.”

  


He just wanted to sleep. He wanted to stop arguing with them. He wanted the pain to stop.

  


He wanted to die.

  


“In that case…” Akira’s eyes lit up, the look on his face that meant he had another one of his terrible ideas. “Why don’t you come to Leblanc?”

  


But of course the world wanted to torture him some more.

  


“You mean the  _ attic _ ?” Akechi wrinkled his nose in distaste, remembering the times he’d gone to the Phantom Thieves “hideout” while he’d been spying on them. It was a messy wooden room with run-down furniture and shelves of boxes and old junk crammed haphazardly into the corners. The air was thick with dust and stray cat hairs that made his eyes water. It was the kind of place dogs like Akira should sleep. It was  _ worse _ than a dumpster. It was worse than  _ hell _ . It was—

  


“The attic’s not so bad once you get used to it,” Akira said, the corner of his mouth twitching, oblivious to the barrage of harsh and degrading thoughts running through Akechi’s head. “And you can sleep on the bed if you want. I’m fine with sleeping on the sofa.”

  


“I’m not sleeping in a bed  _ you _ sleep in on a daily basis!” Akechi snapped, feeling his face get slightly hot.

  


Akira sighed exasperatedly, as if Akechi were the one being stubborn. As if  _ Akechi _ were the one being unreasonable for refusing to force his presence in a place that he didn’t belong.

  


“What about Sakura-san?” he asked, a touch of satisfaction returning to him as he saw the grin slide of Akira’s face somewhat as the subject of his legal guardian, as well as the cafe’s owner, entered the conversation. “You think he’d be willing to let another pathetic little homeless kid waltz straight in like he owned the damn place?”

  


Akira raised his arm, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sojiro is… well, he’s not exactly gonna roll out the red carpet for you at first…” he admitted, his eyes shifting to the side. But the next moment, he was staring at Akechi with a very serious expression. “But if we explain everything, he  _ would _ accept you eventually. I know it.”

  


His eyes were so damn  _ sincere _ , so naively understanding and comforting that Akechi wanted to punch him in the face.

  


“Gee, that’ll go over well,” he drawled sarcastically. “What am I supposed to do, stroll right up to the bar and go ’Hey, sorry, I know I’ve been trying to help an evil dictator take over Japan for the last two years, but I actually just decided to quit on a whim and now I’m kinda homeless. Could I stay here for a few days, or weeks, or  _ years _ , until I put my life back together?’”

  


Akechi looked at Akira sharply, spitting venom at him, daring him to argue. “You did tell him that I tried to  _ kill _ you, didn’t you?” he demanded, his voice rising hoarsely. “You did tell him that  _ I’m _ the one responsible for countless mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns!? Who the hell would want to take in someone like that?”

  


No-one had ever wanted him. Why should things be any different now? 

  


“Yeah…” Akira muttered, his eyes flitting to the side once again, looking hurt. Akechi felt a flicker of guilt momentarily before he aggressively smothered it. Akira  _ should _ feel hurt!  _ He’d _ been the one to hurt him! Akira should’ve  _ despised _ him! “…But he also knows that Shido was the one behind all of it. It’s not your fault, Akechi.”

  


Akechi opened his mouth angrily. “Look—”

  


“Just come with us, Crow!”

  


It was not Akira who yelled at him impatiently, but the girl. Surprised, he turned to see Futaba glaring at him with the Pharaoh’s fierce and commanding anger, as she had when she saved his life. But now that her mask was gone, Akechi noticed something else in her violet eyes… something out of place.

  


“Who cares about what Sojiro says? Who cares if you have somewhere better to go? Who cares if you think you don’t deserve to be treated like a normal human being? Just stop trying to do everything alone!” Her voice broke, and she stamped on the ground again.

  


Akechi glared back at her, trying to put her off, but that only made her look, if possible, more determined.

  


(Sometimes he wished he could be as intimidating as his father.)

  


“Do you  _ pity _ me?” he sneered.

  


“No…” she replied simply, the glare in her eyes lessening slightly. “I just… don’t like seeing you pity yourself. I don’t like seeing you tear yourself up like this. I…” She paused, her gaze flitting downward before she looked back at him, a somewhat softer look in her eyes. “I know how it feels… to think it’s all… all your fault…”

  


Akechi stiffened.

  


He knew what she meant. He knew exactly what she meant.

  


“You…”

  


It felt as though the anger inside him flickered out like a candle, leaving a cold, empty, aching void in its place. He was almost willing to believe it. He was almost tempted by the hint that maybe someone... someone could actually understand him.That someone could care about him…

  


But then he remembered who he was.

  


_ You don’t deserve it. _

  


Akechi snorted, turning his back on her and facing the darkness of the night. It suited him. “Of course you would,” he growled. He needed her to understand. He needed her to remember what he’d done. “After all, I’m the one who made you go through that.” he paused, swallowing, before admitting the truth he’d spent so long trying to forget.

  


“I’m the one who killed your mother.”

  


Silence.

  


The sound of a siren came from somewhere in the distance.

  


The dull buzzing of the streetlight sounded from above.

  


The crickets chirped incessantly.

  


Akechi was suffocating from a thick, deafening silence.

  


He could still remember the moment with sickening accuracy. He could still feel the weight of the gun in his hands, the tension in his finger, the way he’d grinned with sick pleasure as he’d pulled the trigger. It was just another Shadow, after all. Just something that needed to be erased.

  


Awakening to his Persona for the first time had made him feel like he could do anything. He had been powerful; he had been in control. Only he could decide what true justice was. After a lifetime of being treated like worthless trash, he finally had a power that was his own, a power that obeyed his command completely and utterly, a power he could use in any way he saw fit. Again and again he’d delved into the hearts of his enemies, tearing apart their cognition, ripping them into pieces from the inside out. Each time, he felt something draining from him, felt as though he were losing who he was bit by bit.

  


He’d tried to justify it to himself. He told himself that he was only doing it on Shido’s orders, that  _ Shido  _ was the villain, and that it had been the only way he could take him down. Shido was… evil, wasn’t he? What did it matter how he did it, as long as, in the end, Shido was stopped? What did it matter who he had to kill… ?

  


He had always believed in his own justice.

  


But now… after meeting  _ them _ … he wasn’t so sure.

  


Having awakened to his Persona a second time, he felt as if something in him had been exorcised, as if some part of his soul had been ripped away from him. It was the part of him that had been born the first time; the cruel and unfeeling monster that thought of everyone as an enemy to be fought.

  


He’d felt the same thing during the battle with his father. Unable to control himself, he’d let himself slip into unthinking madness, taking pleasure in every attack, every bit of pain he inflicted on his enemy.

  


He…  _ enjoyed _ it.

  


He hadn’t changed.

  


Akechi felt sick, a filthy black poison spreading throughout his chest, choking him. None of this would ever be right again.

  


He turned back to Futaba, staring desperately at her, waiting for her to scream at him, to punch him, to take her revenge, to do  _ something _ . She should’ve hated him. She should’ve been revolted with the selfish, cowardly murderer that he was. Instead, she just stood staring at him, staring at him with the same lost expression she had stared at his father with.

  


_ Their _ father.

  


“H-Hey, um…” she spoke up nervously, her voice barely more than a whisper. She looked at Akechi with a face that was neither angry nor sad, but curious. She looked at him with some incomprehensible emotion that was like a bullet straight to the heart. Suddenly Akechi found that he couldn’t look away anymore. He couldn’t turn his back and pretend to ignore the confused, tangling mess of pain inside him. This girl… what was he to her?

  


Who was she to him?

  


“About what… what Sh-Shi… about what he said before… Is… Is it true?” she asked him quietly, looking scared, not knowing what she wanted the answer to be. Akechi’s heart twisted even more painfully. It would’ve been so easy for him to lie, to try and gloss over the words his father had spoke, fabricating a simple, comforting false truth.

  


But he couldn’t.

  


“I don’t know,” he answered her, just as quietly. “While I was working under Shido, I spent a great deal of time looking into his background, his history and relationships with others, trying to find a weakness. As he said before, it seems he did in fact know Sakura-san for a time before he disappeared from the government… though the exact nature of their relationship is unclear…” 

  


He paused, taking a breath, before continuing. “But nothing I ever found directly linked him to Wakaba Isshiki. As far as I knew, all he wanted was to get his hands on the results of her research. And he certainly never spoke of her… Well,” Akechi made a noise that sounded somewhere halfway between a chuckle and a sob. He tried again, miserably, to plaster a passible smile on his face. “He never spoke about much of anything with me except for my assignments.” 

  


See what he did there? He’d made fun of himself to try and lighten the mood. It was a technique he’d learned long ago for winning people over. But miserable and exhausted as he was, he couldn’t get it to work right. He sighed. “But… If Sakura-san knew her so well, I can only imagine…”

  


Akechi cast his eyes down, unable to look at the silent horror no doubt spreading over Futaba’s face. It was a dark, twisted affair he’d found himself in the middle of. He never knew before. He never knew until he’d heard his father speak those cursed words, words he couldn’t block out no matter how hard he tried. He had never even stopped to think about how a man like him had learned about cognitive psience. It had been just another interesting piece of information, something to be processed and filed away in the dust-layered shelves of old memories. It had never mattered to him before.

  


So why did it matter now?

  


“B-But, if it is true…” Futaba continued breathlessly. “Then that would mean that we’re s-siblings?”

  


Akechi grimaced, the utter shock in her voice like a knife to the gut. He couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to spend months seeking revenge on the person who’d killed your mother, only to find out that you were actually related to them. Only to find that they had been right next to you the whole time…

  


He had betrayed her without even knowing it.

  


“I… suppose…” he replied softly, staring resolutely at his shoes. It came out blunt and direct. Nothing like how he wanted it to. For a moment, there was silence. It was a silence far less severe than the several others that had occurred that night, but it still left Akechi with a sick feeling in his stomach. He opened his mouth, to say what, he didn’t know. An apology? An explanation? A plea? But he never got the words out.

  


The next moment, Akechi felt the weight of a small missile collide with him forcefully as Futaba rushed at him, throwing her arms around his middle and squeezing his ribs in a crushing hug.

  


“Uwah…!?”

  


Futaba buried her head in the front of his coat, finally breaking down into a series of strained, choking sobs.

  


Caught completely off guard, Akechi froze in place. Not that he could move in the first place, as this girl was now gripping him so hard he felt as though she might break his ribs.

  


What… What was she doing? How could she stand to be near him? Akechi had no idea how to deal with the crying girl, so he turned his head to Akira.

  


Akira, the smug bastard that he was, stood staring at the two of them with a bemused expression, his glasses glinting in the dim light.

  


_ Pat her on the head _ , he mouthed silently.

  


Tentatively, Akechi did so, raising a gloved hand to brush the red sea of hair before him once. In response, Futaba clutched him even harder, twisting her head and instinctively reaching up, nuzzling into his hand.

  


_ Nailed it. _ Akira grinned at him, holding up his fingers in an O.

  


Glaring at Akira, Akechi grumbled internally and awkwardly patted Futaba on the head a couple more times, wincing as she squeezed him tightly every time. They stood there like that, Futaba’s tears gushing onto the front of Akechi’s coat, holding him as if she never wanted to let go. Slowly, her cries fade into softer, less continuous hiccups. As for Akechi… He was  _ not _ going to cry. He wasn’t going to…

  


Akira was the only one to see him.

  


How long Akechi endured this humiliation for he didn’t know, but a sudden burning sensation in his chest caused him to panic.

  


“Fu- t-taba…!” he choked. “C-Can’t… breathe!”

  


“Oh!” Immediately, she released him, stepping back. Akechi slumped over, putting his hands to his throat as he inhaled deep, long breaths of sweet air.

  


“I-I-I’m s-sorry!” Futaba hiccuped, staring at him apologetically and rubbing at her eyes, which now looked nearly as red as Akechi’s lungs felt.

  


“I-It’s alright,” Akechi replied shakily, attempting to straighten up and get a handle on his breathing again. Perhaps it was an effect of the overall mood of the situation, but for some reason looking at Futaba’s eyes, timidly worried she might have actually hurt him, made him want to comfort her. He cast around for something to say. “I… survived eating that super spicy takoyaki ball at the school festival, remember?” He attempted to pull his face into one of his patented charming smiles, but it ended up feeling more like a weak grimace. “You could say that that I’m used to this sort of thing, no?”

  


To his right, he saw Akira’s face become something halfway between a cringe and a grin before the boy put a hand up to his forehead and started shaking with silent chuckles. Akechi spared a brief contemptuous glare at the mocking boy. He was  _ trying _ , alright?

  


When he heard a snicker, he looked back at at Futaba. She, too, was looking at him with a expression of amusement before she burst out into a fit of giggling. “I remember!” she said, pointing at him. “You tried to keep it cool and play it off like you were fine, but we could all totally tell you were about to collapse!” Futaba burst out laughing, clutching her sides as she doubled over. Feeling slightly unnerved, Akechi looked questioningly at Akira, who simply shook his head and smirked fondly at the girl next to him, his expression subtly inviting Akechi to do the same.

  


Akechi didn’t, but he had a feeling that didn’t particularly matter at this point.

  


Futaba laughed for a long time, almost cackling with an amusement Akechi entirely failed to understand. Though he supposed it was fine, as it had fulfilled the purpose of reassuring her. He could almost feel his ribs again, too. Eventually, however, the girl’s laughter died down, and her face became serious once again.

  


Futaba looked at Akechi intensely. She looked at him with an intensity that almost burned a hole through him. Her eyes were less red now, but there was still a cautious shyness to them, a hesitancy that she would upset him. As if  _ he _ were the one who had the right to be upset…

  


She locked eyes with him tentatively, violet orbs nearly brimming with tears. “W-Would… Would it be alright if we were… s-siblings?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

  


Akechi held back a sigh. He could hardly refuse, not when it meant this much to her. And besides…

  


Something within him felt nice as he looked at her, her face full of innocent hope. Perhaps some small part of him had always wondered what it would be like, too.

  


What could he have been like if he’d had anyone other than Shido?

  


Who could he become now…?

  


“Alright,” he said. To his surprise, he heard a genuine warmth in his voice, a warmth he usually had to force out.

  


Futaba’s eyes lit up with wonder and excitement, her mouth dropping open.

  


“For… For reals?” she breathed, her tone slightly skeptical. Akechi supposed he couldn’t really blame her for not trusting him outright, given what he’d done to her the last time she’d done that. He nodded once in affirmation. “Th-Then it’s a deal!” she squealed excitedly. “No take-backs!”

  


As he looked into her broadly grinning face, eyes alight with happiness, Akechi found, inexplicably, the corners of his own mouth lifting.

  


_ It’s almost like I’ve signed some kind of a contract with her _ … he mused silently.

  


And that was when it happened.

  


At that moment, he heard a voice speak to him in the back of his head. A voice he’d heard once before that night. But he’d never expected to hear it again.

  


_ I am  _ **_thou_ ** _ , thou art I _ …

_ Thou hast acquired a  _ **_new_ ** _ vow. _

  


_ It shall  _ **_become_ ** _ the wings of rebellion that  _ **_breaketh_ ** _ thy chains of captivity. _

  


_ With the  _ **_birth_ ** _ of the Hermit Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new  _ **_power_ ** …

  


And right before his mind’s eye, a crimson-red card appeared, the name and number written clearly on it.

  


IX — L’HERMITE

  


CONFIDANT

Futaba Sakura

  


ARCANA

Hermit

RANK  1

  


Akechi stared at the Hermit, now feeling just as stunned as she looked. Wordlessly, he turned to Akira, who grinned at him, more proudly than he had ever done before. He had a feeling Akira knew what had just happened.

  


“Ph-Phew!” Futaba breathed nervously, shifting on her feet, but smiling nonetheless. “That’s, um… I-I really- uh…” she stammered, cheeks beginning to turn red. “Th-Thanks,” she said finally.

  


Akechi simply nodded in reply, still dumbstruck.

  


Futaba looked at Akira, who nodded once, giving her an encouraging smile. “Alright!” she declared, pumping both fists into the air in front of her. “Now that that quest objective is complete, let’s gooo!”

  


And without another word, she darted past the two boys and began heading down the street in the direction of the train station, a slight skip in her step. Which left Akechi standing alone under the streetlight with Akira.

  


“Nice going, big bro.” Akechi could hear the amusement dripping off Akira’s every word.

  


“Do  _ not _ call me that…” Akechi muttered through gritted teeth, feeling the heat rising in his cheeks, refusing to even look at him.

  


Akira just laughed, shaking his head as he strolled past Akechi.

  


“C’mon.” He tilted his head in the direction the red-haired girl had just sped off, giving Akechi a small, infuriatingly smug, but genuine smile. “Let’s go home.”

  


Home… A family… A place to belong… Something he hadn’t had in years…

  


Akechi walked up to stand beside the dark-haired boy, looking him straight in his grey eyes.

  


“…Yeah.”

  


New power, huh?

  


He could get used to this.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Inb4 Akechi gets teased endlessly on the way back and he retaliates by exercising his new right to be an overprotective big bro and grilling Akira about him and Futaba.
> 
> COMPULSORY SHUTABA IS COMPULSORY, OKAY
> 
> Holy crow, though, this is long. This is VERY long. …How did I write any of this?
> 
> So!
> 
> Sooo…
> 
> Uh, so.
> 
> First of all, I would like to thank you for reading, and congratulate you on reaching the end of, this admittedly very long (and probably not all that good…) story. This has been rattling around in my head for WAY too long, so it feels great to be able to finally finish it.
> 
> Secondly… I don’t know if it’s too confusing, or anything? If it is, I am very sorry. I am NOT good when it comes to writing, especially with my weird headcanons.
> 
> I’m happy enough with how it turned out, at least. It could be better, though. Much better. I just hope it was enjoyable for you to read. Lemme know what you think in the comments!
> 
> Once again, though… thank you SO much for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day! (Or night. Or… dusk. Y’know, whenever you’re reading this.)
> 
> …
> 
> (Oh yeah, and by the way, the fact that everyone besides Yusuke tried to stop Shido reaching Futaba initially was completely intentional and definitely not a mistake I realized after reading through it for the dozenth time. Nope. Totally planned.
> 
> …
> 
> Okay, seriously though… Not saying Inari is a dick or anything, but I would kinda imagine he had to stop and think for a moment, like, “Wait, this is a bad thing... yes?” I mean, come on, Futaba literally told him to go to hell. How’s he gonna top that?
> 
> Oh, whatever. XD)


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